Student's death called 'lynching'

15 ministers criticize bouncers and police

The New Year's Eve suffocation death of a black Georgia college student outside a French Quarter bar after three white bouncers held him down for 12 to 14 minutes was called "a modern-day lynching" Friday by a group of New Orleans African-American ministers who urged city officials and business leaders to take steps to keep such an incident from happening again. "We are here to let our officials know enough is enough. Our city cannot afford this image," said Bishop Paul Morton of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church, who joined 14 other members of the Greater New Orleans Coalition of Ministers in a news conference Friday to speak out about the matter.The ministers said they are bothered not only about the bouncers' actions, but also that police officers watched without intervening when the bouncers held down Georgia Southern University flag football player Levon Jones, 25, outside the Razzoo Club & Patio on Bourbon Street. A police report said officers didn't notice Jones was motionless and unresponsive until after they had interviewed Razzoo employees. "The police that were on the scene seemed to defer to the bouncers," said the Rev. Dwight Webster of Christian Unity Baptist Church, who questioned whether bouncers are "an extension of the New Orleans Police Department" with enforcement powers inside and outside bars. The three bouncers were booked Thursday with negligent homicide, a crime that upon conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of five years. Bouncers Arthur Irons, 40, of 1117 Rebecca Reed Drive, Slidell; Clay Montz, 32, of 504 N. Bengal Drive, Metairie; and Matthew Taylor, 21, of 4538 Ligustrum St., Metairie, were released from custody Friday on bonds of $20,000 each. [more]