Blacks Blast Handling of Attack on Girl : Violence: Activists claim authorities have been slow to respond to assault of cheerleader. Protests vowed.

Outraged over the Aug. 6 attack on an Orange County cheerleader that they believe was racially motivated, black activists Friday condemned the handling of the case by local authorities.

Amber Jefferson, a 15-year-old Garden Grove freshman who should have been at her first cheerleading performance Friday, instead sat silently, her jaw wired shut and the side of her face stitched together, as black leaders promised candlelight vigils, church meetings and a possible appeal for state intervention on her case.

While no charges have been filed as a result of a brawl that left Jefferson seriously injured, investigators and prosecutors said the case is among their highest priorities and promised a full investigation of any and all racial motives. But black leaders remained unconvinced.

“The (Orange County) sheriff’s handling of this case is tantamount to tolerating racial violence, which could very well lead to even worse incidents,” Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, declared at a press conference here.

“Southern California does not need, nor should it invite, a situation that would be branded nothing less than ‘Bensonhurst West,’ ” Ridley-Thomas said, flanked by top local and state officials from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and other black activists.

Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, became a symbol of racial violence last year after a black teen-ager, visiting the area with two black friends to look for a used car, was attacked and killed by a white mob.

In the Orange County case, the racial elements in the attack on Jefferson are still in dispute, with no criminal charges filed.

What is known is that Jefferson was badly beaten and slashed during a midnight brawl outside a Stanton apartment complex that involved more than a dozen people. On one side there were mostly white teen-agers and a 42-year-old man, and on the other, several black, white and Latino youths--Amber’s friends.

Some among the white group under investigation in the attack have maintained that the fight was not about race, but about jealous girlfriends. Jefferson--who by all accounts was not involved in the argument that triggered the fight--made the mistake of being caught in the middle of it, they have said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department initially said it was not investigating the incident as a racial attack. But under intense criticism from local activists, the department this week recommended the district attorney’s office consider using a state “hate crime” law, for racially motivated attacks, against three of Jefferson’s alleged attackers.

The department also recommended a host of other assault and criminal charges against up to a dozen participants--including some among Jefferson’s group.

“I’m disappointed that (the activists) would prejudge this case,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael Capizzi said Friday. “What happened to Amber is obviously tragic, but it’s our responsibility to deal with it in a professional manner, not an emotional one, and this case has got our attention at our highest levels.”