Washington, the chief federal prosecutor for the Western District of Louisiana headquartered in Shreveport, told CNN the events were separate incidents.

Washington has reviewed investigations into what has been happening in Jena. His office's jurisdiction includes Jena and Washington was there today for a protest rally that is attracting thousands of people.

"A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection," Washington said in an interview with CNN.

Nooses hanging from a tree are far from the norm, Washington said, but the racial tensions and fringe issues in Jena are "not far from the mainstream" in other parts of the country.

Some residents say nooses hung from a tree on campus sparked the violence that led to the beating.

The events occurred three months apart last year in the Central Louisiana town.

Critics of the way the case has been handled said the six black students, dubbed the "Jena 6," are being treated more harshly than the white students who hung the nooses. The whites were suspended from school but did not face criminal charges such as a hate crime. The black students face charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy in the schoolyard beating.

Washington, who is black, said that after the noose-hanging incident at the start of the school year in August, school routines went forward as usual and there was no apparent lingering anger.

"There were three months of high school football in which they all played football together and got along fine, in which there was a homecoming court, in which there was the drill team, in which there were parades," Washington told CNN.

Asked if the case had been blown out of proportion, he replied, "To a degree, I believe so, yes."

The noose hanging occurred after a black student asked whether he and some friends could sit under the tree, a place normally used by whites.

Washington said FBI agents who went to Jena in September to investigate the noose report concluded it had all the indications of a hate crime.

Washington said his office didn't prosecute the incident because it didn't meet the federal guidelines required for the teens to be certified as adults.

Washington said federal authorities examined the way the school handled the infractions, which involved school discipline for the noose incident, and whether black students were being treated differently than whites. The officials found it was not unusual for the school superintendent to reinstate students after the principal recommends expelling them.

Washington said he believes most people were disappointed the three students didn't get more severe punishment.

(From CNN and staff reports)