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JERREY ROBERTS

Jason Vassell and his sister Tiffany smile during a celebration and rally Tuesday at City Hall in Northampton.

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JERREY ROBERTS

Jason Vassell, center, gets a hug from his brother-in-law, Bob Morales, during a rally Tuesday at City Hall in Northampton. Also pictured are two of his sisters, Vivienne James, front left, and Karen Morales, top left, his mother, Esmie James, front right, and Jasmin Torrejon, of Northampton, who is one of the organizers of "Justice for Jason."

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JERREY ROBERTS

Jason Vassell, his family, and his supporters gather for a rally and celebration organized by "Justice for Jason" Tuesday at City Hall in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON - Jason Vassell is ready to move on, finally.

Flanked by his parents, sisters and brothers and other extended family members on the steps of City Hall Tuesday afternoon, the former University of Massachusetts student spoke publicly for the first time about a February 2008 incident that forever changed his life.

Vassell, a black man who was then 23, claimed he acted in self-defense when he stabbed two white men, Jonathan Bosse and John Bowes, who had appeared at his lighted first-floor dormitory window around 4:40 a.m. trying to get into the building, where they had made arrangements to stay with a friend.

According to court documents, an argument ensued, racial slurs were directed at Vassell, and then his window was broken. Feeling threatened, Vassell called a friend, and the two non-students gained access to the building when he let his friend in. The argument with Bosse and Bowes then escalated and became physical.

The stabbings took place shortly after 5 p.m. in the lobby. Vassell was subsequently charged with two counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Following an agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys that was approved June 4, those charges were officially dismissed at 4 p.m. Tuesday, ending one of the most watched cases in Hampshire County in recent memory.

"For 2½ years I have teetered on the edge for no other reason than defending myself," Vassell told a crowd of about 75 supporters at Tuesday's gathering.

His case became a rallying call for many who charged that racist attitudes played a role in the prosecution led by the Northwestern district attorney's office. His supporters numbered in the hundreds at times, packing courtrooms, leading rallies and holding vigils in Vassell's defense.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, denied that race played a role in their decisions. They said they filed charges based on the evidence and not race.

In a column that appeared in the Gazette in June, District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel noted that the grand jury, which consists of members of the community, voted to indict Vassell based on probable cause.

"As prosecutors, we are ethically required to make objective, though not always popular, decisions based upon the evidence presented to us," she wrote. "The initiation of criminal charges against Mr. Vassell was not race-based, but followed the usual procedural safeguards built into our criminal justice system that have evolved over hundreds of years."

In his brief remarks Tuesday, Vassell said he was a law-abiding citizen and questioned why investigators assumed he was a drug dealer. He also questioned why prosecutors did not seek more appropriate charges for Bosse and Bowes.

Bosse was not charged, while Bowes initially faced charges of disorderly conduct, a civil rights violations with injury, and aggravated assault and battery with intent to intimidate. The assault and battery charge was dropped and the civil rights violation downgraded by dropping the "with injury" element. A jury acquitted Bowes of that violation but found him guilty of disorderly conduct.

In the end, however, Vassell and his family said they were ready to put the case behind them.

"Now I can salvage the rest of my college career and lead a meaningful and successful life," said Vassell in a concluding comment that drew hugs from family members who made the trip to Northampton from outside Boston.

After the rally, he deferred questions to his relatives. His father, Wilks Vassell, said his son intends to attend electrician's school. Since the incident, Jason Vassell has been working for his father and living at home.

"We feel relieved that it's now over and he'll get a chance to continue with his schooling," said Wilks Vassell of Methuen.

Jason Vassell's mother, Esmie James, said the last two-plus years have been "like hell for him." Other than working with his father, she said, he rarely left the house and often stayed in his room.

"In the beginning, he was crying at night. He couldn't sleep. He had nightmares," James said. "He went through hell."

Tuesday's rally played out amid the backdrop of a political campaign for Northwestern district attorney in which Michael Cahillane, who until recently had served as assistant district attorney for a decade, is running for the post being vacated by Scheibel.

UMass Afro-American studies professor Ekwueme Michael Thewell called on Cahillane to explain to voters his role in the Vassell case if he expects to win the support of many of those who have been following the case from the beginning.

Malcolm Chu, a classmate of Vassell's who introduced him Tuesday, kicked off the event by leading the crowd in chants, such as "Whose victory? Our victory!"

"We've said no to an instance and to a system of racial injustice," said Chu.

Now that the Vassell case has ended, Justice for Jason organizers intend to turn their attention to other racial justice issues both locally and nationally, said member Jasmin Torrejon.

They will also explore other issues to tackle within the community. That work could begin as soon as next week, when the group hosts a community meeting, said Torrejon. The date of that meeting has not been determined.