Dervis Harris may have done something wrong -- and then something
right -- on the night a Louisiana high school football game ended
in what police called "a major disturbance."
Harris, an assistant football coach at John F. Kennedy High
School in New Orleans, faces a one-year suspension for a verbal
altercation with an Alfred Barbe High School coach during the
final seconds of a game between the two schools Sept. 19 at
Barbe Stadium in Lake Charles.
But another Barbe official says Harris' subsequent intervention
in a bleacher brawl between Kennedy band members and Barbe fans
probably spared several injured Barbe youths from more serious
harm. "The hippie-looking guy ... kept it from being a whole
lot worse than it could have been," the Barbe official says
of Harris, a tall JFK offensive coordinator who sports dreadlocks.
Harris declined to comment.
The sensational melee in the visitors' bleachers of the new
stadium was captured on amateur video and reportedly broadcast
nationwide on CNN. A total of eight Barbe students -- including
three girls ages 14 to 15 -- reported that they were attacked
by JFK band members and supporters in the visitors' bleachers
or in an area nearby, according to Calcasieu Parish school records.
At least five Barbe students were taken to a hospital emergency
room, including three male youths who were "beaten and kicked
and shoved" down several rows of bleachers, according to the
records and school officials. Eighteen-year-old Michael Lemelle
suffered a fractured nose. Fifteen-year-old Garland Rye was
treated for contusions to his head. And Francis Wright, 16,
allegedly was struck repeatedly in the head and back.
During the post-game chaos, Barbe team physician Dr. Stanley
Kordisch testified that an additional Barbe student was "knocked
out cold" by two Barbe fans in a separate altercation. And records
show a 16-year-old female Barbe student sustained hand and shoulder
injuries in an alleged attack by male JFK band members in an
area outside the stadium.
All of the injured Barbe students have recovered and are now
back in school, says Calcasieu Parish Schools superintendent
Jude Theriot. By late last week, no one had been arrested in
connection with the widely broadcast violence in the visitors'
stands. The JFK school band was immediately suspended by Orleans
Parish school officials from participation in further school
football games, pending further disciplinary investigation.
Three men, including two Lake Charles men, were arrested at
the stadium for three separate physical altercations, says Sgt.
Mark Kraus, a spokesman for the Lake Charles Police Department.
The "bleacher beatings" were just one of at least three violent
dramas that unfolded at Barbe Stadium that night. To date, the
Kennedy-Barbe controversy has centered on the first -- and least
violent -- of the confrontations: the on-field physical altercation
between assistant coaches from the opposing schools during the
final seconds of the game. The second altercation involved the
bleacher melee; the third centered on a group of Barbe fans
who threw bricks, bottles and plastic PVC pipe at Kennedy players,
cheerleaders and support staff as they attempted to board school
buses to return to New Orleans, according to testimony at a
public hearing last week.
The volatile post-game climate at an arena with an estimated
crowd of 6,575 people tested the capacity of 23 Lake Charles
area law enforcement officers assigned to keep the peace. The
third disturbance also strained relations between officers from
Lake Charles and New Orleans.
Two NOPD school resource officers -- Olivia Fontenot and Mark
Kitchens -- provided security for the game. They allege that
Lake Charles law enforcement officers drew guns on the departing
Kennedy entourage and failed to assist the NOPD officers when
they were trying to break up fights in the visitors' bleachers,
according to written statements provided for the Louisiana High
School Athletic Association (LHSAA) probe of the events.
In a memo to JFK principal Theresa A. Henderson, Fontenot
wrote: "The band was provoked into that fight [in the bleachers].
... [S]ix black male members from the other school [attempted
to harass the band members]."
In another memo dated Sept. 22, JFK band director Vernell
Ford agreed with the NOPD officer. "The band was only protecting
themselves. They did not swing any instruments or any other
objects," Ford wrote. "During the fight, the Lake Charles Police
watched and did absolutely nothing to assist. After the fight
was over, they gave very little assistance."
Ford said the Lake Charles police then escorted the band out
of the stands. "As we were walking to our buses, the same group
of kids began throwing bricks for reasons unknown. The Lake
Charles Police drew their revolvers and aimed toward the band
members and support groups." Ford said that he made a comment
to one of the LCPD officers and he was threatened with arrest.
In her memo, NOPD's Fontenot indicated Lake Charles law enforcement
elevated tensions after the game ended: "Upon attempting to
escort the Performing Team out the back way to avoid any further
problems, they were attacked by spectators tossing bricks and
Officers drawing guns and being told to get on their buses and
get out of town. They (police) went as far as to escorting the
buses to the interstate and advising all the kids to keep their
head down so they don't get hit with bricks."
Sgt. Mark Davis, spokesman for the Lake Charles Police Department
(LCPD), says city officers are required to file a use of force
report whenever they unholster their weapons and no such reports
have been filed since the game. "I was a police officer assigned
to work that duty," Davis says. "I was in the middle of the
incident with the band and I didn't see any police officer from
Lake Charles Police Department, or any sheriff's officer, draw
a gun."
Davis says he only saw "professional police work" demonstrated
by LCPD officers and deputies assigned to the Calcasieu Parish
Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office could
not be reached at presstime for comment.
In a written statement, Barbe parent S. Ray Fontenot recounted
how he saw six to eight black youths carrying two-by-fours,
cinder block materials, and mop handles toward the Kennedy assembly
area. After making sure his wife and daughter were safe, S.
Ray Fontenot said, he trailed the group: "I then began to follow
this group north, recruiting any adult help to try and diffuse
the situation. Unfortunately, I was unable to stop these kids
from throwing everything in their possession at the Kennedy
band and football team."
The group of assailants then fled. New Orleans police and
a number of adults from JFK attempted to scale a fence and pursue
the youths. "During that time, a Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's
Deputy took action to stop the oncoming crowd and disperse the
other officers," S. Ray Fontenot wrote.
An unidentified NOPD officer then began "chastising" the CSP
deputy for his actions, "instead of trying to help defuse what
was apparently becoming a dangerous situation for all." S. Ray
Fontenot praised sheriff's deputies for their actions. "Contrary
to what the Kennedy crowd may think, these officers did the
best they could with the few they had. I know because I was
there."
Robert Cummings, a Barbe equipment manager, submitted a written
statement recounting how a young JFK coach cursed at JFK players
after the game. "Something to the effect: 'Put your motherfu--
helmets on.'
"Then an older coach walked up to the team and began stating
that the black man is always wrong, not the white man. He went
on to state that in this particular incident, the white man
had started the fight." Cummings stated that he feared the coach's
rhetoric would lead to a riot that would put the nearby Barbe
band in danger.
A Lake Charles couple stated that they sat on the JFK side
after finding the Barbe bleachers filled to capacity. Michael
Williams said in a written statement: "My wife and I did not
notice anything out of the ordinary until the Barbe team scored
their first touchdown. It was at this point that one of the
(JFK) coaches became irate with his team and verbally abused
them with profanity loud enough for us to hear in the stands.
This went on throughout the game, with my wife [Stefney] Williams
even witnessing the coach strike one of the players during the
game."
Tia Alexander, communications director for Orleans Parish
Public Schools, said she had not seen the statements, which
were distributed to the media at the LHSAA hearing, and could
not comment by presstime.
Barbe band director Stephen Hand said that he welcomed the
Kennedy band director at half-time and the two exchanged pleasantries.
During the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Barbe drum majors
paid a customary welcoming visit to the JFK band and several
of the New Orleans students returned to the Barbe band area.
"Each of the JFK students were introduced to the band individually
and each of the students received a round of applause from my
band for traveling to Lake Charles to participate in the game,"
Hand wrote in a statement submitted to the LHSAA. "After introductions,
their band students went immediately back to their group. There
was absolutely nothing said or gestured by any of my students
to bring an allegation of incitement toward conflict."
But Margaret Mahoney, a captain of the Barbe color guard,
indicated the JFK band members and color guard expressed disinterest
in meeting the Barbe contingent. "We ... played a short song
for them and they left back to their side," Mahoney wrote.
Last week, the five-member LHSAA committee met at Baton Rouge
to review sportsmanship issues between the two football teams.
From the onset of the proceeding -- which had all the trappings
and media coverage of a congressional hearing -- the LHSAA made
it clear that what happened in the bleachers at Barbe stadium
was outside its jurisdiction.
"This hearing is not John F. Kennedy High School versus Barbe
High School -- that game has been played," one LHSSA commissioner
told the packed meeting room as the hearing opened. The commission
also emphasized it would not address any disputes that had emerged
between law enforcement agencies and the two schools' communities
since the game.
After more than six hours of testimony by some two dozen witnesses
-- and the re-playing of videotapes of the alleged incidents
-- the panel voted unanimously to place both schools on one-year
probation for sportsmanship violations, including failure to
control their respective spectators. Both schools also were
fined $1,500 each and ordered to split the costs of the daylong
hearing at the Embassy Suites hotel.
Barbe principal Charles Adkins accepted the panel's findings
that Barbe spectators threw projectiles at the visiting team
as it tried to board buses after the game. Kennedy assistant
coach Ron Alvarez was cited for punching Barbe assistant coach
Paul Demarie, a blow that resulted in a deep cut over his left
eyebrow, testimony showed. Alvarez was placed on LHSSA probation
and JFK was fined $500 for his alleged misconduct.
Alvarez attorney Willard Hill and Kennedy head coach Terry
Freeman did not convince the panel that Demarie provoked the
incident by pushing Alvarez and calling him a "nigger." Demarie
denied using any racial slur. He said he put his hands on Alvarez's
shoulders and told him he had to get off the field.
Three Barbe officials near the altercation testified they
heard Alvarez cursing, but no racial slurs by Demarie. The Barbe
officials further insisted such language is not tolerated on
the team. Barbe is a majority-white school. JFK has a nearly
all-black student population.
Two Calcasieu Parish sheriff's officers testified that Alvarez
was cursing before the encounter and one officer stated the
coach called him a "white m-f."
Alvarez faces a criminal misdemeanor charge of simple battery,
following his arrest by Lake Charles police for his altercation
with Demarie. Calcasieu Parish District Attorney Rick Bryant
told the Lake Charles American Press: "There was absolutely
no justification for such a vicious attack."
Alvarez attorney Hill told the LHSSA: "The truth will out
if there is a close examination of the videotape."
Prior to the hearing, Orleans Parish Public Schools' athletic
coordinator Frank Wilson III suspended Alvarez for violating
a rule of the district's "Coaches Code of Conduct" which states:
"Respect the judgment of the officials and their interpretations
of the rules -- public protests can only lead to similar behavior
by the players and spectators." Two NOPD officers assigned to
the visitors' bleachers testified that the melee in the stands
was not precipitated by the JFK coaches' acts on the field.
The LHSAA took no action against assistant coach Harris, who
angrily walked onto the field to protest the officiating of
the game. With 11 seconds left in the game, a referee reportedly
had flagged a Kennedy player for cursing. Barbe won, 19-18.
A JFK player got between an official and Harris, and directed
his coach toward the sidelines. "One of the players said, 'C'mon,
Coach,'" Harris told the panel. "I said, 'Let go of me. I'm
OK, but they're wrong."
Harris and Freeman both testified the head coach had asked
him to attract the attention of officials before time ran out.
Immediately after leaving the field, Harris testified, he
went up to the stands to try and stop eight to 12 band members
from fighting with Barbe fans. At the close of the hearing,
officials from both schools praised all the football players
for the restraint not so easily evinced by some adults in the
dispute.
Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff Paul Valteau, who last week exchanged
testy press releases with the Lake Charles Police Department,
says his deputies will provide additional security when L.B.
Landry High School travels to Lake Charles on Oct. 24 for a
gridiron battle with another southwest Louisiana high school.
The week after the Barbe game, Kennedy played Jesuit High
School at Tad Gormley Stadium. There were security officers
present but no metal detectors in sight to screen students and
fans. The Kennedy side of the field had few people compared
to Jesuit. JFK's band was suspended. But a 96-piece band from
Thurgood Marshall Middle School filled the void.
Marshall band director Charles Brooks, a Kennedy alumni, said
he received a call for his band's help the day before the game.
Accompanied by 18 parent chaperones, Brooks and his disciplined
young musicians all volunteered their services.
"The football team needs our support and the parents said
we will be here," Brooks said, proudly.
His charges sat stoically in the pounding sun between spirited
performances. Charlotte Lacour, a Kennedy alum and Marshall
parent-chaperone, said most of the media coverage of JFK since
the Barbe incident has been unfair and "very negative."
"They have a lot of other brawls that go on that don't get
reported," she said. "It's school rivalries."
Lacour says school bands need plenty of parent chaperones
for out-of-town games, but notes that parental involvement "dies
down around high school because kids don't want parents to know
what they are doing. But the parents have to go over the kids'
heads and contact the band director [to help out]."
As for the JFK-Barbe dispute, she says: "There's two or three
sides to every story. There's the Barbe side, the JFK side,
and what actually happened. That's called the truth." 
