Jalen Bell is finally at home recovering.
The 23-year old full-time college student and Navy veteran is a husband and a father of two small children. He has spent the last few days trying to explain to his 6-year old daughter and almost two year old son why their daddy came home from the hospital beaten and bruised.
Bell was brutally attacked last weekend by four white security guards at XTC Cabaret, a Dallas area adult night club, after a disagreement with another patron.
He was there that night hanging out with a friend when Bell put a drink down in a section of the club where a group of men were lounging. When he returned to retrieve his drink, one of the men put a cigarette out in it. They exchanged words, but Bell said in a post of Facebook that he and his friend decided to leave in an effort to de-escalate the situation.
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Once they reached the door, four white security guards were waiting at the exit and proceeded to beat both Bell and his friend without cause. While doing so, Bell recounts that he could hear one of the XTC Cabaret uniformed security guards telling him ‘you’re going to die’ while he held Bell in a choke hold.
“Not only did I feel this guy trying to choke me out and put me to sleep, he was also trying to break my trachea as he was calling me the N-word,” said Bell in an interview with theGrio.
“I have served in the U.S. Navy alongside white guys. They were my brothers, so to come back home and deal with someone who is trying to kill me and calling me the N-word, it broke my heart. It’s like you know it happens, white people say the N-word, but for him to try to kill me while saying this was like he was trying to break my spirit.”
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It’s one thing to hear about the racism that seems to be spreading at every corner of our country these days, it’s another to be a victim of that type of bias, especially when it happens, and no one does anything to help. While he was afraid for his life, Bell says a crowd of bystanders stood by. No one called the police. No one came to his aide. His friend had been immediately knocked out cold and didn’t even know what was happening.
“It reminds me of this Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that I memorized in sixth grade,” said Bell. “‘The greatest tragedy of this period of social transition will not be the strident clamor of the bad people but the appalling silence of the good.’ That’s what I felt like…these might have been good people, but they didn’t do anything. I looked at people in their eyes as I was being choked out and no one did a thing.”
Philadelphia attorney S. Lee Merritt, represents Bell and is working with law enforcement to seek justice for his client. He plans to meet with the attorney representing XTC Cabaret tomorrow and says that the club has body camera video of the assault which includes audio.
“While I hope the Dallas police department does the right thing and conducts a thorough investigation, experience has taught me to be cautiously optimistic,” says Merritt. “We are hoping to see the videos, get the records for who was on staff and identify these men. Our primary concern is that these men are held criminally accountable for their conduct.”
Until that happens, Bell remains at home, achy and sore. He knows that his body will eventually recover from the trauma but repairing his spirit will take much longer.
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“I’m dealing with a lot of stress, especially as I am trying to explain what happened to my daughter,” said Bell. “I had to tell her these were security officers and I could see the confusion on her face like, ‘wait a minute dad, aren’t they who you call when you need help?’ She saw the pictures of me on the news and started crying again. It’s been a lot…no six-year old should have to deal with seeing their father like this.”