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   From: shooter@freedyn.de   
      
   New Black Panthers rally moved because of death threat.   
      
   March 10, 2011 — -- The alleged gang rape of an 11-year-old girl by   
   at least 18 boys and young men has sparked shame and outrage in a   
   tiny Texas town, but it has also stirred racial tensions that   
   threaten to split the East Texas hamlet.   
      
   All of the defendants arrested are African-American and the girl is   
   Hispanic.   
      
   The hardscrabble town of Cleveland, which is 45 miles from Houston,   
   has fewer than 8,000 residents and since the saw mill closed the   
   biggest employers are Wal-Mart and a nearby prison. In a town this   
   small, everyone is a neighbor, but that small town ambience is being   
   severely strained.   
      
   The rape allegedly occurred last November, and the list of suspects   
   has been growing as arrests keep coming. It's not clear whether more   
   arrests are in the works.   
      
   The suspects range in age from 14 to 26, include stars on the high   
   school's basketball team as well as the son of a school board   
   member.   
      
   But as the investigation drags on, the shock and indignation has   
   been tinged with an undercurrent of racial tension.   
      
   "I feel sorry for the little girl. I feel sorry for everyone   
   involved...the city is in turmoil," Inez Dickerson said.   
      
   Dickerson, 68, is the great-grandmother of one of the defendants in   
   the case. Her grandson has not been publicly identified by police   
   because he is a minor.   
      
   Dickerson remembers when her great-grandson called to tell her the   
   crime he's accused of committing.   
      
   "When I got on the phone, he was crying. He said, 'Granny, I've been   
   accused of something. I'm scared,'" Dickerson said. "He's pretty   
   tore up about it."   
      
   "I'm not going to play the race card on this because my grandson and   
   all the rest were very young men and they could have given a second   
   thought on this," Dickerson said.   
      
   While Dickerson believes the flaring of racial tensions isn't   
   warranted, others disagree.   
      
   Houston community activist Quanell X will host a town hall meeting   
   this evening called "What's the real truth behind the rape   
   allegations?"   
      
   "Every adult male that had sex with this child should go to prison,   
   I don't care what the color is. But I do not believe black males are   
   the only ones that had contact with this young child," said Quanell   
   X, the leader of Houston's New Black Panther Party. "It appears to   
   me there's only been the selective prosecution of one community,   
   which is African American."   
      
   Quannell X said the rally has been moved from a church to a   
   community center because, "The church received some death threats."   
      
   Gang Rape Charges Raise Race Tensions in Texas Town   
   The village has a history of racial violence. In 1988, an African   
   American man was arrested in Cleveland for allegedly stealing a   
   fountain pen. The man, 30-year-old Kenneth Simpson, was allegedly   
   beaten to death by white police officers while in prison. The   
   officers were acquitted of murder charges and returned to work.   
      
   In addition, Cleveland is embroiled in a political scandal where   
   three city council members are facing a recall election following   
   complaints of corruption. All three of those city council members   
   are African American.   
      
   More than half of the town is white, with the rest of the residents   
   split between blacks and Hispanics.   
      
   Most of the defendants have ties to Precinct 20, the nickname for   
   the predominantly African-American neighborhood in Cleveland.   
      
   Cleveland police began investigating the rape in December of last   
   year after cell phone video showing the alleged sex attack started   
   circulating among students at Cleveland schools, according to court   
   documents. The video shows the girl engaged in sexual acts with   
   several men.   
      
   The girl told authorities that the weekend after Thanksgiving she   
   was asked if she wanted to ride around with three of the defendants   
   in the case. The girl, described as a straight A student by those   
   who know her, rode with the young men to a blue house with white   
   trim, according to court documents.   
      
   As the night unfolded, numerous men came to the house and later an   
   abandoned trailer to have sex with the girl, according to court   
   documents.   
      
   The video surfaced because some of the girl's attackers used their   
   cell phones to take photographs and to film the assaults.   
      
   The girl, who has not been identified because she is a minor and the   
   alleged victim of a sex crime, said that she was told by the men   
   that they "would have some girls 'beat her up' or she would not be   
   taken back to her residence" if she didn't have sex with them,   
   according to court documents.   
      
   When a relative of one of the defendants was heard returning to the   
   blue house, the group hurriedly moved to an abandoned trailer. The   
   girl left behind her bra and panties, according to the court   
   documents.   
      
   The girl has been removed from the custody of her parents.   
      
   Racial Tensions in Cleveland, Texas   
   Brenda Myers knows the girl and her family. Myers runs the Community   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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