FBI Won’t Pursue Attack on Girl : Investigation: An agent says the Amber Jefferson case doesn’t fall under the bureau’s jurisdiction. A vigil for Amber is planned today in Santa Ana.

FBI officials announced Thursday that they have reviewed the case of a 15-year-old Garden Grove cheerleader who was beaten and slashed last month in what some activists allege was a racially motivated incident and have decided not to pursue an investigation.

The news dealt a blow to the victim’s family, which had been calling for an independent federal inquiry into the case, alleging that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department had mishandled the investigation.

“Our concern is violations by a police officer acting under color of the law, but that was not the case here,” FBI spokesman Fred Reagan said. “This appeared to be a matter of mutual combat between private parties.”

Amber Jefferson, who has a black father and a white mother, was beaten with a baseball bat and slashed with a piece of glass outside a Stanton apartment complex during a brawl Aug. 6 that involved more than a dozen people.

Amber and her friends allege that they were attacked by a group of white men and teen-agers wielding baseball bats because they were black and Latino. Some among the white group maintain that the incident was not about race but rather escalated into a fight between two girls over a boyfriend.

The incident is still being reviewed by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Reagan said the FBI decided not to pursue the case because it did not fall within its jurisdiction.

“The facts of the matter have been studied in some detail and the determination has been made that there was no apparent violation of federal law within FBI jurisdiction,” he said. That jurisdiction includes the federal civil rights laws.

Amber’s attorney, Carol Sobel, could not be reached for comment on the FBI’s findings.

The FBI announcement came as a demonstration was being held by the victim’s family and supporters aimed at turning up public pressure on Orange County authorities. Gathered on the steps of the U.S. District Court building, a coalition of civil rights groups and Hollywood celebrities repeated their demand that arrests be made in the attack on the 15-year-old.

Echoing statements made at a news conference held last week in Yorba Linda, organizers criticized the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s handling of the case. To further press that point, community groups from Los Angeles and Orange counties have organized a candlelight vigil for 4 p.m. today near the Sheriffs’ Department headquarters in Santa Ana.

Amber, who attended the news conference on the steps of the court building in Los Angeles, suffered a broken jaw and an inch-wide gash running down the side of her face.

When asked by reporters what she wanted to see done, she replied “justice.” She then broke into tears.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said his group may ask the U.S. Justice Department to intervene if Orange County prosecutors fail to file charges in the case. Ridley-Thomas and other community leaders contend that the Sheriff’s Department has failed to aggressively pursue the case because of the victim’s race.

“We feel that had the makeup of the victims and the perpetrators been different, the Sheriff’s Department would have come out with a different report,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Besides the SCLC, other organizations attending the press conference were the American Civil Liberties Union, Multiracial Americans of Southern California and the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith.

Actress Irene Cara and Joe Morton, who plays a prosecutor in the television series “Equal Justice,” also turned out to lend their support to Amber and her family.

The Sheriff’s Department presented the results of their investigation to the district attorney’s office last week with the recommendation that charges be filed against 12 people on both sides. Recommended charges against five of Amber’s friends range from fighting to assault with a deadly weapon; recommended charges against seven people in the other group include fighting, assault with a deadly weapon and participating in a hate crime.

The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement Thursday saying that its investigation was “thorough and comprehensive.” Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said the department is willing to cooperate with any government agency that may ask to review the incident.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Orange County district attorney’s office said before the FBI announcement that his office is proceeding with its investigation.

“If the feds want to look into it, fine,” Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley said. “What is ironic is that people are criticizing our alleged lack of activity without ever having talked to us.”