We left Jackson early (7 a.m.!) to get to Philadelphia for the official opening of the trial — although there is not a lot of activity to cover today. There was a bit of excitement when Killen was wheeled into the courthouse — alongside J.J. Harper! Some reporters were asking his attorney why he was with a Klansman, and then Minna (Skau of Politken in Denmark, our friend from the day before) whipped out the business card Mr. Harper had given her the day before to show his Klan connection.
We missed the scene, but the reporters later told us that it caused a momentary scene. (Apparently, Judge Gordon has said that he doesn’t want Klansmen in the courthouse, but Harper was allowed to go in. We saw him walk out later during a break and then go back in.) The good news is that there aren’t many Klansmen here. Harper seems to be heading up a small show and acts as if he is eager for publicity.
The scene here today surprised many of the reporters who expected crowds of people (as apparently did the police with streets on both sides of the courtroom roped off). But, other than business people on the Square, there are very few people milling about other than media, who are walking all over place looking for a story and people to interview. I’m sure every businessperson has been interviewed multiple times at this point!
Several of the national and international reporters asked me if I was surprised not to see more people. I said I wasn’t; I’m not really sure who, other than media and perhaps publicity seekers, the trial would draw here on a weekday. And I don’t think most of the locals are anxious to gawk at, or be hounded for interviews, by national media. The ones who are seem to pass through the Media Center quite a bit. 😉
I’m struck that a lot of the media from other places think that little has changed here in 40 years. Perhaps they expect crowds of angry people. I don’t know. I do know that I came over here a couple years back to cover a “Klan rally.” It turned out to be about five Klan members, including a large woman wearing a very tight Confederate flag tank top, marching through town with locals looking either bored or yellling, “go home!” There is no question that many, many things have changed since the days when Martin Luther King marched through angry crowds here, dodging rocks, and even a car that drove straight into the crowd of protesters. No, the work is not done, but I do hope that the media from elsewhere will seek out the real story of today’s Mississippi and contrast it to that of old, rather than try to force us into an old narrative. Today’s narrative isn’t perfect, but it is different.
Today they are choosing the jury, and there isn’t much room for media in the courtroom. They’re sifting through more than 400 people for the jury, and quickly released a number of older (over 65) people, black and white, out the side door. Much of the media are hanging in the media center where we have wireless Internet access and even homemade cookies and muffins (we Mississippi girls giggled that the national media probably don’t get homemade treats just everywhere they go!)
