I'm sure all of the people who took off work and traveled to Jena, La., to protest the now-infamous prosecutorial injustices committed against six boys who beat up a classmate are ecstatic to know that Bryant Purvis, one of said boys*, has been arrested for "assault causing bodily injury."

It warms the heart.

Purvis's mom, who sent her son to live with his NFL-player uncle in Houston after the drama went down in Jena, is speaking out in defense of her son. She said he was provoked.

Tina Jones, Purvis' mother, said her son got into an altercation with another student at Hebron High School early Wednesday after he was told that the student had vandalized his car the night before.

"I wish he could just get in a place where he could walk away from the situation," Jones said of her son. "I understand he gets frustrated. But he needed to walk away from this situation, being that he's already in a situation. It's very frustrating and upsetting to have to go through so much."

She says Purvis's tires were flattened during his high school basketball game and, prior to that, someone had broken the windows of her brother's truck and stolen his tires. She maintains her son was not involved in the Jena attack, but admits that this recent arrest doesn't make his case look good. You think, mom? [HC]

*He's actually now a 19-year-old man.