A public rally has been scheduled for noon Friday outside the Pine Bluff Civic Center’s City Hall Chambers entrance, according to Rev. Jesse Turner of the Interested Citizens for Voter Registration. Turner said the purpose of the rally is to “bring attention to injustices that are happening here.”
The planned gathering generated from responses to a Facebook posting of a Commercial article on comments Laurell Hall made after a Wednesday night church service. Hall was angry about an announcement that possible evidence gathered March 29 in the continuing investigation of her daughter’s May 9, 1994, disappearance wasn’t turned over to the Arkansas State Crime Lab until Tuesday.
Hall said Thursday evening that she was unaware of any rally plans and she and her family weren’t planning to attend.
Turner said he and others are concerned about a number of alleged injustices, including the matter of the evidence in the Cleashindra Hall case.
“We need a more open city government,” Turner said. “Council members and other citizens shouldn’t have to grapple for information. Too many Freedom of Information Act requests are having to be filed for basic information that should be made readily available. The community has a right to know.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
He charged that the public is growing tired of Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr.’s administration “not being open.”
Turner insisted, however, that the assembly will not be a political gathering.
“There will be no political speeches,” he said. “It will be an assembly of concerned citizens who want justice for Clea Hall and all others.”
Laurell Hall had reservations about the rally.
“I don’t want my daughter’s case being used for political games or hidden agendas,” Laurell Hall said. “My motivation is justice for my daughter.”
On Wednesday night, Hall said she felt that Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones should be “suspended or terminated” over the evidence incident, but on Thursday, Hall said she’s not seeking the chief’s removal. “I just want my daughter’s case assigned to a detective who will work solely on her case for the next 30 to 60 days,” Hall said.
Hall said that had those planning to assemble Friday consistently rallied since immediately following her daughter’s disappearance, the case might have already been solved.