Biracial panel member booked with assault

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Mar 4, 2008 - Page: 5B

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The secretary of the biracial advisory committee to the Tangipahoa Parish School Board was booked on a count of aggravated assault on another committee member, sheriff’s deputies said.

The assault charge stems from an argument between secretary Melvin McElwee and Casper Jackson in the School Board central office parking lot in Amite after the Feb. 21 committee meeting, a sheriff’s incident report shows.

The court-ordered advisory committee deals with desegregation matters.

The Feb. 21 incident prompted the Biracial Committee to call for both men to resign, but the NAACP’s parish chapter is standing by Jackson, committee and NAACP officials said Monday.

McElwee, 42, 14150 Rev. J. White Road, Independence, was booked Friday at parish jail in Amite on a count of aggravated assault and on an outstanding failure-to-appear warrant for a count of issuing worthless checks, Jail Warden Maj. Randy Pinion said.

McElwee, who surrendered Friday, was released on his own recognizance the same day, Pinion said.

Jackson, of Hammond, and committee member Monroe Perry claimed McElwee pulled out a handgun during the argument, but another member told the investigating deputy he didn’t see a gun, according to the incident report.

McElwee denied the accusation Monday and claimed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People officials were trying to push him off the Biracial Committee.

Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP local branch, denied McElwee’s claim.

McElwee said he was reaching in his car for something to defend himself with after Jackson head-butted him in the mouth, but never grabbed anything and drove off. McElwee wouldn’t say what was in his car.

Conviction of aggravated assault, defined under state law as an assault with a dangerous weapon, can bring a fine of up to $1,000 or prison time of not more than six months.

The 20-member Biracial Committee, which is evenly divided between white and black members, voted unanimously Feb. 25 to ask McElwee and Jackson to resign, said Tom Hogan Jr., committee co-chairman. The group recommends how the School Board can meet the directives of longstanding desegregation orders filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.

McElwee said he isn’t resigning.