Four African Americans in rural Miss. charged with disturbing the peace for celebrating at graduation

Four African Americans in rural northwest Mississippi were asked to leave a high school graduation and have been charged with disturbing the peace for celebrating a family member's graduation from Senatobia Junior/Senior High School, Michael Quander reports for WREG-TV in Memphis. (City-Data map: Senatobia, Miss.)

Senatobia Municipal School District Supt. Jay Foster told audience members before the graduation to hold applause and cheers until the end of the ceremony or they would be asked to leave, Quander reports. When Lanarcia Walker received her diploma, her mother Linda said she yelled, "You did it, baby," and her aunt said she called out her name. They were two of four family members immediately asked to leave.

But it didn't end there. Foster filed the disturbing-the-peace charges and officers issued arrest warrants with a possible $500 bond. Henry Walker, one of the four people charged, told Quander, “It’s crazy. The fact that I might have to bond out of jail, pay court costs, or a $500 fine for expressing my love—it’s ridiculous, man. It’s ridiculous.” Foster called the charges far from ridiculous, saying he's determined to have order at graduation ceremonies. (Read more)