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Tension is high among anxious fans
Supporters, opponents share angry words
By SCOTT STEEPLETON
NEWS-PRESS ASSISTANT METRO EDITOR
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department was looking into reports that someone placed spikes along Figueroa Mountain Road leading into Neverland Valley Ranch.
It's not clear whether the reports are true, but supporters of Michael Jackson had complained to authorities on Monday that someone ran over pro-Jackson signs they had placed along the roadside.
It's presumed that spikes would be intended for anyone trying to damage the signs.
The possible spikings are the latest example of the anxiety that has set in as the jury begins its fifth day of deliberations.
On Wednesday, Jackson supporters went head to head with a street preacher who wears an Elvis wig, a man advocating death to homosexuals and pedophiles, and an actor associated with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" who poses as a "fan" named Jake Byrd and brought an air-filled "bouncy house" and encouraged fans to "jump for justice."
A lot of news outlets have fallen for his act, including The New York Times and Court TV, which posted his picture and an interview with him on its blog Wednesday afternoon.
"Jake" was among the more lighthearted moments Wednesday, but as has been the case lately, heated clashes seemed to rule the day.
One onlooker got into an argument with supporters who had attached a pro-Jackson sign to two American flags, which were emblazoned with images of the singer, and placed the banner on the grass.
"I don't see why they have to put my flag on the ground," said Dale Scott Jr. of Santa Maria. "My father fought in World War II for the flag and according to American Legion protocol, if a flag touches the ground, you burn it."
The fans contend that what's happening to Mr. Jackson is worse than a flag getting stepped on and soiled.
"They just seem to think that their agenda is more important than treating my flag with respect," said Mr. Scott.
John Hatcher, president of the Oxnard and Ventura Counties chapter of the NAACP was on hand to tell supporters that racism and a thirst for Mr. Jackson's wealth is somehow behind his prosecution.
"I go back to when a girl (Susan Smith) drove her car in the water and killed her kids, the first thing she said was, 'It was a black man,' " Mr. Hatcher said to raucous applause. "And here this lady who walked off and left her wedding (Jennifer Wilbanks), the first she said was she was being abducted by a black man."
He called the trial an example of institutional racism. "They say 'We are trying him for molestation' when in reality they're trying him because they want the money, they want the property."
At 12:15 p.m., a dozen fans rushed the media area, shouting four-letter words at host Court TV host Diane Dimond. Sheriff's deputies and Santa Maria police officers kept the crowd, and the collection of reporters watching them, at a distance and the fans eventually left.
Ms. Dimond took it all in from the safety of the Court TV tent.
e-mail: ssteepleton@newspress.com
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