WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Teacher's upcoming trial causes racial dispute
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Heather Ellis
By Keitha Nelson - bio | email
KENNETT, MO (WAFB) - A high school teacher from Metro Baton Rouge will go on trial Wednesday for an altercation at a Walmart in Missouri where police say she refused to leave and resisted arrest.
Monday afternoon, marchers in support of the Central High teacher took to the streets of Kennett, Missouri, crying out for justice. Klan members were also at the march. Some carried confederate flags in hand and others wore Swastikas.
The controversy began in 2007. Heather Ellis, 24, reportedly cut in line, trying to get to her cousin. She claims she was pushed by a white customer, called racial slurs and mistreated by Kennett police officers. According to police, Ellis refused to leave Walmart and resisted arrest.
Court documents show Ellis kicked one of the officers in his shin and split another's lip. Her trial begins at 9 a.m. She could face up to 15 years in prison. The KKK brought national attention to Ellis' case after a Kennett police officer warned Ellis' family about threats against them.
"It's been a horrific roller coaster," said Reverend Nathaniel Ellis, Heather's Ellis' father. "Sometimes, she wakes up hollering over nightmares."
"There are skin heads, there are Ku Klux Klan in this city," said Dwight Montgomery with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "We believe Mr. Sokoloff and people from the police department are connected with the Ku Klux Klan."
Stephen Sokoloff, the prosecutor in Dunklin County, excused himself from Ellis' case following intense pressure. He denies being a racist.
"Someone who believes something like that, they're going to believe it regardless of what the facts are," Sokoloff said. "I think if you talk to people that know me and look at my record, you'll find that's not correct."
Sokoloff said he does not expect prosecutors to drop the charges against Ellis. She was offered a plea deal, but did not accept it.
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