Wichita ? The trial of two black men for the brutal killings of five whites has stirred little racial tension in a city transfixed by gavel-to-gavel television coverage of the proceedings.

Prosecutors have said greed and lust motivated the crimes, not racial hatred.

But a homeowner’s short-lived display of two black-faced dummies hanging from a tree depicting the brothers prompted a brief protest Friday by black groups outside the courthouse.

About a dozen people representing the NAACP, Uhuru Faith Ministries, black students and others turned out for a brief news conference to urge the homeowner be prosecuted for a hate crime. The group left without incident.

Three hours later, police conducted their own news conference announcing they would seek no charges.

“This particular case :quot; as disturbing as it might be to the community :quot; does not rise to the level of a crime,” Deputy Police Chief Robert Lee said.

Lee said he had not heard any confirmation that a national white supremacist group was planning a rally in Wichita as rumored. White supremacists cited the Carr case in a rally held in Topeka weeks before the trial began.

The developments outside the courtroom come as the penalty phase of the trial of Reginald and Jonathan Carr nears its end. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations as early as Wednesday on whether the brothers deserve to be sentenced to death.