Several news items caught my eye this week. The first was an incident where a deputy chief of police found a hangman’s noose in the police office in Hempstead Long Island.
The second report was two incidents were a noose was found in the travel bags of African-American members of the Coast Guard.
This trend follows a recent rash of the appearance of a hangman’s noose since it was reported in connection with the Jena6 incident when white students in a small Louisiana town hung nooses from a schoolyard tree after black students sat under it.
Last month, two teenagers were arrested in Alexandria, Louisiana, after driving through town with nooses hanging from their pickup truck, the night after a protest march brought thousands of demonstrators to Jena, according to CNN.
This rash of a symbol of hate tied to a past time when African-Americans were hung for no reason other than racial hatred. It is unfortunate that the practice seems to symbolically have resurfaced, especially in a law enforcement location.
Such incidents in Minnesota in addition to being a terroristic threat would also be a bias crime and would be so investigated and referred to prosecutors. Hopefully the Media will emphasize the terrible representation a hangman’s noose poses.
This type of sophomoric behavior, especially in a law enforcement setting is unforgivable.