Jesse Jackson, Critic Square Off in Court

Jesse Lee Peterson, a Los Angeles minister and black conservative, has been a thorn in the side of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson for years.

A former talk radio host and perennial cable TV guest, Peterson in a 2002 online article called Jackson a “has-been civil rights ‘leader.’ ” And for five years in a row he said he staged a “National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson” rally in Los Angeles.

On Thursday, Peterson faced his nemesis in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, where Jackson was forced to respond to a lawsuit alleging that he had threatened Peterson and violated his civil rights.

Peterson was represented in the lawsuit by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative legal group Judicial Watch. In it, he alleges that Jackson and his associates, including son Jonathan, roughed him up and called him derogatory names during a confrontation four years ago at a meeting in Los Angeles with Toyota officials about minority hiring and contracting practices.

The suit alleges that Jackson’s son Jonathan, outraged that Peterson had pressed officials about whether conservative Republican minorities would be excluded from their programs, shoved him. Then, Peterson alleges, a mob gathered around, yelling, among other things, “Where’s your buddy [Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly] now?” the suit alleges.

Peterson’s lawsuit said the confrontation caused him to fear for his life.

In an afternoon appearance in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge George H. Wu, Jackson vigorously denied those charges.

“He was trying to provoke me,” he said. “I would not go for the provocation.”

Peterson called him “a sissy or a woman,” while he responded by urging the crowd to stay calm, Jackson said.

Jackson did concede that he told the crowd that there are “parasites” who benefit from the activism of others, but he said the remark was not directed specifically at Peterson.

Outside the courtroom, Jonathan Jackson denied shoving Peterson.

Under intense questioning by Jackson’s lawyer, Peterson testified that he could not recall many details of the encounter.

The two adversaries were courteous when they passed each other as Jackson headed for the witness stand after Peterson’s testimony.

After his testimony, Jackson tried to shake the judge’s hand. Wu demurred, saying, “I’m a public servant.” Later, after the jury was gone, the judge explained to Jackson that he had snubbed him because he did not want to give the jury the idea that he was playing favorites.

Jackson’s politics have long been a target of the political right. But Peterson has personalized the fight.

Peterson’s website says he is available to give speeches on topics such as “We Shall Overcome Civil Rights Leaders.”

Of his annual rallies outside Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition office in Los Angeles, Peterson testified that the purpose was “to show the contrast between Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s nightmare.”

Peterson is the founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping urban men and their families.

He is also the author of the 2003 book “Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America.”

His website says he was born on a “plantation” in Alabama and proclaims him this generation’s Booker T. Washington.

Peterson’s campaign against Jackson has drawn its own detractors.

Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania who has debated Peterson, said the lawsuit was “just another frivolous example of the assault on black leadership and the politics of self-hatred.”

“Without hating Jesse Jackson, he has no purpose in life,” Dyson said.

Peterson maintains that his lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, is about accountability.

Peterson’s lawyer, Michael Hurley, said: “This case is about an assault and battery at a business meeting.”

But Jackson said Peterson’s lawsuit is part of a larger, right-wing effort to attack him and weaken his movement.

Within two hours of his confrontation with Jackson, Peterson had issued a press release, Jackson said. That same day, he noted, Peterson went on O’Reilly’s radio show to discuss the incident.

“This is an ugly political scenario,” Jackson said. “This kind of suit is very expensive, designed to be damaging and disruptive.”