New Nation Noose News

[da dog]

Controversial photo causes a stir by Lauren Squires
See fat offended nigger in vid at link.

(WMC-TV) - A photo, posted on Instagram late Friday night, is causing a stir on social media.

The Mid-South Maze has been in the Memphis area for 13 years. Yet, a photo taken at the maze is causing many residents to speak out. They are classifying the image as 'offensive' and 'controversial'.

"The issue is you have a Caucasian man with a young boy, not even an African American boy, but a young boy with black face. (It's) almost like mistrial times just hanging from a noose. It's something that shouldn't be tolerated," stated concerned visitor Timothy Moore. 'mistrial times' ? Did the reporter mean minstrel times?

Mid-South Maze owner, Chris Taylor, said this is the first he has ever heard of the possible controversy.

"It's a mid-evil scene out in a corn maze. There's a little bit of black makeup on his face. He sometimes wears a mask, but it's more (of a) camouflage," exclaimed Taylor.

Taylor continued to explain how the young man at the noose has been working at the maze for over eight years. He said the image was never intended to offend, it was only supposed to be for fun. :laugh:

"It's more of an interactive scene where, you see an executioner up there, he's getting the crowd riled up and then he does a fake hanging. Yea, sometimes you get to jump back out there and scare them," continued Taylor.

Moore agreed the scene was definitely scary. However, he fails to see the humor in the matter.

"I've had relatives that were lynched and my great grandmother was a slave. So, to see something that depicts slavery and not only slavery but the ugly side where lynches occurred, it was so insensitive to the African American community," asserted Moore. :tantrum:

Taylor has no plans to make any changes to the maze and believes the entire incident has been blown out of proportion because of social media. He confirmed Action News 5 was the first to contact him about the possibly offensive scene. :nya:

In the meantime, Moore hopes more people will speak out against the scene and try to get it removed. :tantrum:

Click here to visit the MidSouth Maze website: http://www.midsouthmaze.com/

 

[da dog]

Cary woman hangs Halloween noose in front yard by Elaina Athans
Vid at link

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Halloween display at a home in Cary has neighbors talking.

A stuffed mannequin is seen hanging by a noose from a tree outside a home at the corner of Cavendish Drive and High House Road. The Halloween decoration has its hands tied behind its back with rope.

Earlier in the day, it was wearing black socks, but they have since been switched to white ones.

A neighbor told ABC11 she saw the display and stopped her car to get another look.

"I am shocked to see this in Cary of all places. It's so diverse here," Cary resident Ira Thompson said.

Thompson is outraged by the lawn ornament and calls it racially offensive.

"Nobody should have to look at that, or just being around that. Why?" Thompson said

The woman who made the display said she spoke with neighbors before she hung the mannequin because she was worried little kids might get scared seeing a man hanging.

"I tried to make sure all of my neighbors were okay with it. I talked to them," Jodi said.

She added that she didn't mean to offend anyone.

"I'm having a Halloween party. It supposed to be spooky," Jodi said.

Still, concerned neighbors are not convinced the decoration is appropriate for the holiday.

"A person hanging by a noose, with their hands behind their back, tied behind their back, in a hoodie very the less, what does that have to do with Halloween?" Thompson said. None of your business, nigger.

 

[da dog]

Parents outraged by apparent noose in high school's locker room by Bethany Wales

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Numerous parents of Saint Jude Educational Institute students have reached out to WSFA 12 News this week through phone calls and e-mails. The parents expressed concerns about what St. Jude football players found in their locker room at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School last Friday night.

St. Jude borrowed Montgomery Catholic's facilities for their playoff game Nov. 8. Parents say the players found a rope that looked a lot like a noose hanging on a locker.

A picture of the rope with a loop at the end tied with a slip knot has gained traction on various social media sites with wide ranging comments surrounding racism.

WSFA 12 News tried to reach each of the schools involved to get answers. Two days of phone calls, text messages and even a visit to Montgomery Catholic resulted only in this written statement Friday night from Montgomery Catholic:

"We are aware of issues raised by parents from a local school that used our facilities. We have investigated the matter promptly and thoroughly and have determined there is no merit to the issue and as far as we are concerned this matter is closed."

Our attempts to contact St. Jude's administration have been unsuccessful.

Many questions remain unanswered, but one parent, who wants to remain anonymous, told WSFA 12 News he doesn't believe the noose was a gesture directed at St. Jude. But, he says it's still unacceptable.

"That is a culture, that is a mindset that is on display," the concerned parent said.

After talking with the St. Jude administration, this father was told the principal and staff at St. Jude want to use this incident as a teachable moment for students. He applauds them for taking what he calls the high road hoping it will teach the team how to deal with adversity.

"Getting angry won't solve the problem," the parent said.

He hopes his son will learn a lesson from it.

The parent says he has been in touch with the Alabama High School Athletic Association and is working toward filing an official complaint.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/#!/news/local/Amtrak-Managers-Hung-Noose--Workers/233089301

Amtrak Managers Hung Noose: Workers
NBC10.com
Nov 22, 2013

An Amtrak workers tells NBC10's Harry Hairston that workers were scared when they came to work and found a noose hanging in the office. This worker says it was put there by a manager.

 

[Newsman]

Oregon city employee Vanessa Savage finds noose on her cubicle with a 'termination notice'

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Woman-says-she-found-noose-in-her-cubicle-242928701.html

January 31, 2014

"This is 2014 and a supervisor brings a noose to work and nothing is done about it."

Vanessa Savage told KATU she found a noose in an office cubicle at Washington County's housing department with a note that read "Termination Notice."

A county investigation found the noose was not racially motivated and ordered employees to undergo sensitivity training. Savage doesn't buy it.

"A noose is designed to terrorize people and there's a historical precedent that that's what the noose does," she said. "And when you put a noose on a note that says 'terminated, fired,' he wanted it to have a certain impact and it did."

She believes the investigation let the supervisor off scot-free, so she's hired a lawyer and is looking into legal action . Savage took a leave of absence after the incident but returned to work. She considers the office a hostile work environment. ity:

 

[voiceofreason]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/m...pack/-/1735978/24497826/-/5m7722/-/index.html

Man finds noose, hateful message in backpack
Updated On: Feb 14 2014 11:35:22 PM CST

BROOKSHIRE, Texas -

A man said someone at his job put a noose and a hateful, racially charged note in his bag.

The man does not want to reveal his identity because of the nature of the incident.

He said he was just two weeks into a new job at a Superior Energy Services job site in Brookshire, when he quickly became the target of a fellow employee. He said he put his backpack in the break room. He walked away to use the bathroom and came back to get his bag.

“I opened it up and got the note with a noose inside,” said the man. The note warned, “Stop wearing camo N-word. We can see you.”

The man often wears camouflage clothing to work. Being African-American, he said he was offended by the noose and the message. “I had never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “I got irritated.”

The man said he complained to the company's human resources department.

“I just really want to find out who [did] it,” the man said.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/18/university-of-mississippi-noose-statue_n_4809407.html

University Of Mississippi Offers Reward To Find Vandals Who Put Noose On Desegregation Statue
Posted: 02/18/2014 2:05 pm EST Updated: 02/18/2014 5:59 pm EST

JACKSON, Miss., Feb 18 (Reuters) - The University of Mississippi is offering a $25,000 reward for tips that can help officials identify and arrest two vandals who were spotted draping a noose around the neck of the statue of James Meredith, who braved angry mobs in 1962 to become the school's first African-American student.

A construction worker on the campus in Oxford reported seeing two men wrapping the bronze figure in an old Georgia state flag bearing the Confederate logo, according to University Police Chief Calvin Sellers. The vandals were also heard shouting racial slurs, Sellers said.

Campus police are working with local law enforcement and the FBI to locate the suspects after the incident early on Sunday, and authorities plan to pursue federal hate crime charges, Sellers said on Tuesday.

"If you did this to intimidate or even if intimidation was perceived from people that saw it, and certainly our African-American students would perceive it as that, then it's a hate crime," Sellers said.

The incident has sparked frustration, anger and fatigue at the university known as Ole Miss, which is still struggling to overcome its racially tumultuous past, a school spokesman said.

Riots ensued in 1962 as hundreds of segregationists protested the admission of Meredith, the school's first black student. Two men died and dozens of people were wounded as federal officials escorted Meredith to campus.

In 2012, the campus made national headlines again when a group of students yelled racial slurs at an impromptu protest after President Barack Obama's re-election.

Sellers said he did not believe students were involved in the latest incident, as most likely would have been sleeping at the time it occurred.

University spokesman Danny Blanton said the Ole Miss community was "tired of individuals trying to cast a bad light on the campus. This is not indicative of our creed or what we stand for as a campus community."

The school's alumni association is offering the $25,000 reward at the request of the chancellor, a statement said.

The university has taken steps to shed its past in an effort to welcome all students. The school ditched its sports mascot, Colonel Reb, which many claimed looked like a white plantation owner, for the current mascot, a black bear.

 

[Newsman]

Black dummy used by Phillipsburg HS wrestling team for lynching photo

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/...-wrestling-dummy-0219-20140219,0,264075.story

February 19, 2014

A photo of students from a North Jersey high school depicting the lynching of a practice dummy wearing a Paulsboro wrestling T-shirt has gone viral, invoking claims of racism.

The photo was made public Monday. It shows seven young white males - most wearing Phillipsburg High School athletic attire, two with their hoods pointed - surrounding the hanged, black figure.

Superintendent George M. Chando of the Phillipsburg School District said in a statement that the district investigated the matter and "upon conclusion of the investigation, actions were taken by the district consistent with its policies."

What action was taken and against whom was unclear Tuesday.

Paulsboro Superintendent Walter Quint said he learned of the photo Tuesday morning and spoke with Chando soon afterward.

"He was disappointed, upset, embarrassed," Quint said. "Hopefully, he's going to find some young men just made a bad decision."

Tuesday night, the Gloucester County NAACP ravda: issued a statement saying that it would request a meeting with Paulsboro officials and would seek an investigation. The NAACP also said it wanted "a letter of apology from the offenders to Paulsboro . . . and the Gloucester County community."

Phillipsburg defeated Paulsboro, a wrestling powerhouse, at a meet this month. Quint said the fans and players from the teams had always remained respectful.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/02/20/7-new-jersey-wrestlers-out-of-meet-after-lynching-photo/

7 New Jersey Wrestlers Out Of Meet After Lynching Photo
February 20, 2014 1:20 PM

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Seven members of a New Jersey high school wrestling team have been scratched from a state tournament days after a photo surfaced of team members apparently simulating a lynching.

Phillipsburg High School officials would not say why the wrestlers were pulled from competition, telling The Express-Times of Easton it’s a “private student matter.”

The picture showed seven boys in Phillipsburg wrestling attire surrounding a black wrestling dummy wearing a rival Paulsboro High School T-shirt and hanging from a noose.

Pictures of the wrestlers who were scratched seem to match the faces in the photo.

A spokesman for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association says the organization is awaiting a report from Phillipsburg school officials on how they’re handling the situation. The state Division on Civil Rights also is looking at the case.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...ing-into-nj-wrestlers-alleged-lynching-photo/

Authorities Looking Into NJ Wrestlers’ Alleged Lynching Photo
February 19, 2014 12:37 PM

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) — New Jersey school sports officials have asked the state Division on Civil Rights to look into a photo that shows members of a high school wrestling team apparently depicting a lynching.

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association assistant director Larry White says his office forwarded the picture to the state Division on Civil Rights on Tuesday.

The photo shows seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High wrestling attire posed with a black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro wrestling shirt and hanging from a noose. Two of the boys have the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points. Paulsboro is a major rival for the team.

CBS 3 spoke to the Paulsboro Superintendent of Schools Dr. Walter Quint and he said they are taking a wait-and-see approach as to the message this photo meant, meaning was it meant to be racial or was it just meant to be trash talking between two schools? And are the kids just being insensitive, or was there something more malicious? He says that dialogue is ongoing between the two schools.

Quint adds, “Their coach has talked to our coach and their principal has talked to our principal. We are all upset by this. Teenagers do things that they shouldn’t do and it doesn’t make any of us happy, no matter who’s teenagers they are.”

The photo surfaced online in recent days.

Students have had mixed reactions to the picture.

Paulsboro nigger student Tahje Thomas ooks, “It’s hurtful for one, and in this day and age it’s hard to see those things still happening.” A student from Phillipsburg High School says it was just sports trash talk, not racism, “They’re great kids. They’re all just real excited that they won the wrestling match. I think it kind of just got to their heads a little bit. I don’t think they meant what was pictured there.”

A statement received from Phillipsburg Superintendent of Schools George M. Chando says: “The incident reported is a student matter dealing with minors. An investigation was undertaken and upon conclusion of the investigation, actions were taken by the District consistent with its policies.”

There’s also an investigation that may go further by the Attorney General’s Division of Civil Rights, and the governing body for school athletics in New Jersey is expecting a report from Phillipsburg by noon on Thursday. They say after that they will think about any penalties, if anything is warranted.

Paulsboro and Phillipsburg are not expected to wrestle again this season.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...e-Wrestlers-for-Lynching-Photo-248308381.html

Attorney: Family of Student to Sue Wrestlers for Lynching Photo
By NBC10 Staff and Wire Reports | Tuesday, Mar 4, 2014 | Updated 12:00 AM EST

The butt-hurt fambly of an nigger student plans to play the ghetto lottery for a photo that surfaced of members of a high school wrestling team that appeared to simulate a lynching.

The photo, which surfaced online last month, shows seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High School wrestling attire posing with a black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro High School wrestling shirt hanging from a noose. Two of the boys have the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points. One of the boys is holding a paddle.

On Monday, an attorney for an African American student on the Phillipsburg wrestling team told NBC10 that “intent to sue” notices were sent to the school district, Warren County as well as the individual students in the photo. The attorney says the student and his family felt “clearly threatened and intimidated by the photo and the actions of the students.”

Paulsboro and Phillipsburg are longtime wrestling powerhouses and rivals. Phillipsburg, in northwest New Jersey, is a community of 15,000 where about 85 percent of the population is white. Paulsboro, south of Philadelphia, has about 6,000 residents -- more than one-third of them black.

The Phillipsburg wrestlers who posed in the photo were pulled from a state tournament after the photo surfaced. Phillipsburg High School officials would not say why the wrestlers were pulled from competition, telling The Express-Times of Easton it was a "private student matter.''

An attorney for the banned wrestlers later released a statement claiming that the boys only intended to “show school spirit.”

In a prepared statement, Scott Wilhelm said the Phillipsburg High School students didn't think what they were doing could be seen as insensitive and they were sorry for offending anyone. The boys sat at a table while the statement was read, but didn't comment.

"We did not intend to disparage anyone," the boys' lawyer said. "We are truly sorry for any harm we may have caused."

The statement noted that the wrestling dummy in the photo is used in daily practices and, as far as they know, is only manufactured in dark leather.

"In outfitting the wrestling dummy, we did not give any thought to the physical appearance of the dummy as anything other than an unidentified generic wrestler," Wilhelm said.

Phillipsburg school officials made a statement Thursday saying that they take the case seriously and "took the necessary actions to hold accountable those involved" but would not disclose the punishments because they are "student issues."

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ing-Noose-at-Construction-Site-249386541.html

"Workers" Find Hanging Noose at Construction Site
By David Chang | Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 | Updated 1:22 AM EDT

The discovery of a noose at a South Jersey construction site by two African-American workers has sparked an official police investigation.

On February 26, Vance Thorpe, 46, and his co-worker Kyle Winters, 43, both of Delaware, say they were working at a NIPRO Glass construction site in Millville, New Jersey. After returning from lunch, Thorpe claims he saw a noose hanging on the wall he and Wilson had been working on.

“It was disheartening,” said Thorpe, who, along with Winters, is African-American. “It took a piece of me.”

The men took a photo and then reported the incident to their supervisor at Access Labor Services, a construction and industrial temporary service based in Delaware.

The men told Delaware Online that they asked their supervisor if they could be assigned to another site. The men claimed however that the supervisor told them they couldn’t move them since it was under short notice and asked them to continue for another few days.

Winters decided not to return.

“They di-int do nuffin,” Winters said. “They told us to go back. I wasn’t going to go back.”

Thorpe stayed on for another week and a half to finish the work. Thorpe claims the only reason he didn’t quit was because he needed to support his newborn son.

Both men eventually filed a complaint with police.

Kurt Van Dal, the president of NIPRO Glass Americas, made the following statement regarding the incident:

This alleged incident was first made known to NIPRO on Friday March 7. NIPRO has not been contacted by any of the individuals alleged to be affected, nor by the local Police.

Even though NIPRO's only involvement in this alleged incident is that it has been described as occurring on a NIPRO job site preliminarily understood to be at a removed furnace tank location, where none of the workers are NIPRO employees, and where the construction workers referenced appear to be independent contractors or employees of a temporary employment agency hired by a sub contractor of the general contractor hired by NIPRO for the furnace construction. The allegations, if true, are contrary to NIPRO’s policies and rules, in addition to being contrary to training that is provided to all contractors hired by NIPRO. Therefore, NIPRO is contacting the investigating Police Department, the outside general contractor, their sub-contractor, and the temporary agency involved in the work to assure that a full and proper investigation is being conducted, and that any necessary, appropriate steps are taken.

NIPRO does not and will not condone any such acts as alleged on its property, and is acting to assure that firm policy is understood and complied with by any outside contractors and their workers on NIPRO property.

Millville Police are currently investigating and say the culprits could be charged with harassment, bias and intimidation. Meanwhile, Thorpe continues to provide for his young son, whom he hopes will never experience the racism that he believes he and his co-worker faced.

“I’m worried about my safety and possibly my life,” Thorpe said. “Then I started to get offended. Because I’m like for real? 2014? They’re doing this?”

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/04/17/no-charges-for-nj-wrestlers-in-alleged-lynching-photo/

No Charges For NJ Wrestlers in Alleged Lynching Photo
April 17, 2014 5:12 PM

BELVIDERE, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey prosecutor says no charges will be filed against the members of a high school wrestling team who posed in a photograph that simulated a lynching.

The Warren County prosecutor’s office said Thursday that its investigation with the Phillipsburg police found no criminal wrongdoing.

The photo, which surfaced online, showed seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High wrestling attire posing with a black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro wrestling shirt and hanging from a noose. Two of the boys had the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points.

Paulsboro and Phillipsburg high schools are longtime wrestling powerhouses and rivals. Phillipsburg is about 85 percent white. More than one-third of Paulsboro’s residents are black.

Prosecutor Richard T. Burke says his decision was cleared with the state attorney general’s office.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/....html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black Voices

University Of Mississippi Frat Shut Down After Members Tied Noose To Desegregation Statue

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A national fraternity group has closed its University of Mississippi chapter after three members were accused of tying a noose around the neck of a statue of the first black student to enroll in the Southern college that was all-white at the time.

The university announced Thursday that the national office of Sigma Phi Epsilon, based in Richmond, Va., had closed its Ole Miss chapter.

Besides the noose, someone draped a pre-2003 Georgia state flag with a Confederate battle emblem in its design on the face of the James Meredith statue in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 16. Meredith's enrollment in 1962 set off a violent attack by anti-integration protesters on federal authorities, leaving two people dead and scores injured.

The names of the three students from Georgia haven't been released. They were kicked out of the chapter, which itself had been suspended pending the review.

Ole Miss spokesman Tom Eppes said university disciplinary proceedings against the three students are ongoing. He also said the FBI is still investigating.

The Lafayette County district attorney has said state charges won't be brought because no state laws were broken. Mississippi's hate crime law requires an underlying crime for those additional charges. Because the statute itself wasn't marred or broken, prosecutors say typical vandalism charges don't apply.

After the noose was found, the university asked the national headquarters to review the 130-member chapter, which had been on campus since 1987.

"The closure is not a result of what happened with the Meredith statue, but the Meredith statue precipitated the intensive review of how they conduct business," Blanton said.

Ole Miss and fraternity officials said they found a pattern of underage drinking and hazing which broke both university and Sigma Phi Epsilon rules. University officials said the national office had previously intervened in 2010 to fix similar problems.

"We are disappointed that a pattern of bad behavior and serious, inexcusable hazing occurred within the chapter," Dean of Students Sparky Reardon said in a statement. "Periodic reports from and meetings with local alumni and national headquarters led us to believe that the chapter was improving."

Sigma Phi Epsilon CEO Brian Warren said the group had "no choice" but to close the unit.

"Though it's always painful to close a chapter, these students' actions clearly illustrate a determination to perpetuate an experience based on risky and unconstructive behavior," he said in a statement.

Blanton said students currently living in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house on campus would be allowed to stay and eat meals there through the end of the semester, but would not be allowed to have any social activities. After that, he said the university, which owns the land under the house, and the fraternity would discuss uses for the structure.

Sigma Phi officials said they would discuss a return to campus with the university. It's not clear how long that might take. Blanton said that several years ago, the university did not reinstate the closed chapter of another fraternity until all the members at the time of the closure had graduated.

Administrators have fought against the university's Old South image, banning Confederate battle flags from football games in 2003 and ditching its Colonel Reb mascot for a black bear in 2010. But those efforts have been undermined by unflattering incidents, such as an election night disturbance in November 2012 when some students used racial slurs and profanity to protest President Barack Obama's re-election, or an October 2013 performance of "The Laramie Project" where football players and other students used gay slurs to heckle the play about the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepherd, who was gay.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...Schools-in-Bellflower-Mayfair-279573272.html?

Nooses, Racial Slurs Investigated at Rival High Schools in Bellflower, Lakewood
By Adrian Arambulo and Andrew Lopez
Friday, Oct 17, 2014 • Updated at 1:27 PM PDT

Students at Mayfair High School staged a peace march Friday morning as authorities investigate potential hate crimes involving nooses found hanging from trees at two high school campuses in Lakewood and Bellflower.

The nooses were discovered at Bellflower and Mayfair high schools, which are both part of the Bellflower Unified School District. Authorities were investigating whether the nooses were part of Halloween pranks by the rival schools.

Racial slurs and swastikas spray painted on campus buildings were also discovered at Bellflower High School.

Droves of students walked out of class Friday, believing the vandalism raised more serious concerns than a prank gone too far. Andrea Bereal, the parent of the student who organized the peaceful walkout, agreed.

"The message that we're unified, that the schools support each other an racism is unnaceptable," Bereal said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether there is a connection between the racial slurs and the nooses, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

There are no suspects in either case, officials said.

Mayfair school staff did not comment on the investigation, but officials at Bellflower said extra security guards have been placed on campus.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...g-by-nooses-left-on-the-trees-at-uc-berkeley/

3 Life-Sized Cardboard Cutouts Of Black Men Hanging By Nooses Found At UC Berkeley
December 13, 2014 5:11 PM

BERKELEY (CBS/AP) — Three cardboard cutouts of black men were found hanging by nooses on the Berkeley campus of the University of California.

School spokeswoman Amy Hamaoui said police are trying to determine who hanged the effigies that were found at two prominent campus locations Saturday morning. The spokeswoman said the effigies appear to be connected to a noon-time demonstration nearby planned to coincide with a national protest against police brutality dubbed “#blacklivesmatters.” The effigies appear to be life-size photos of lynching victims.

 

[The Bobster]

http://news.yahoo.com/man-charged-noose-left-integration-statue-ole-miss-190152555.html

Man charged in noose left on integration statue at Ole Miss
Associated Press
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
March 27, 2015 8:11 PM

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former University of Mississippi student has been indicted on federal charges connected to a noose being put on a statue of the student who integrated the school, the Justice Department said Friday.

The noose and a former Georgia flag that prominently featured the Confederate battle emblem were placed on the James Meredith statue on the Ole Miss campus in Oxford in February 2014. In 1962, anti-integration protests erupted into violence and Meredith had to be escorted by armed federal agents as he enrolled under court order as the first black student at the university.

The Justice Department said in a news release Friday that Graeme Phillip Harris of Alpharetta, Georgia, has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students because of their race or color.

"This shameful and ignorant act is an insult to all Americans and a violation of our most strongly-held values," Attorney General Eric Holder said in announcing the indictment.

"No one should ever be made to feel threatened or intimidated because of what they look like or who they are," Holder said. "By taking appropriate action to hold wrongdoers accountable, the Department of Justice is sending a clear message that flagrant infringements of our historic civil rights will not go unnoticed or unpunished."

It wasn't immediately clear Friday whether Harris had an attorney to contact for comment on his behalf.

Harris, who is white, was an Ole Miss student when the noose was placed on the statue. University spokesman Danny Blanton said Friday that Harris is no longer enrolled and that university officials turned the case over to federal prosecutors and deferred to their judgment.

"It has taken time, but the process has worked and I'm confident justice will be done," Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones said in a statement Friday. "I am thankful for the strong, united response of our university community to the desecration of the James Meredith statue last year, confirming our university values of civility and respect."

Meredith, 81, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday that it is a shame that Mississippi had to rely on federal authorities to prosecute the case.

"What it is saying is that the only possible justice for a black in the state of Mississippi is the federal government and if there's anything that we don't need it's that being our only means of expecting justice," Meredith told AP. "I think Mississippi is better than that. If it's not better than that, it should be made better than that."

The local district attorney said in 2014 that state charges wouldn't be filed because no state laws were broken. Mississippi's hate crime law requires an underlying crime for additional charges. Because the statute wasn't marred or broken, prosecutors said typical vandalism charges didn't apply.

The national office of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity suspended its Ole Miss chapter after three of the chapter's members were accused of leaving the noose and flag on the Meredith statue. Names of the three students from Georgia were not released at the time.

Hundreds of Ole Miss students attended a racial reconciliation rally on campus after the 2014 incident.

The Meredith statue was erected in 2006 near the main administrative building at Ole Miss, the Lyceum. In a 2012 autobiography, Meredith said the university should destroy the statue because he said it trivialized his effort to destroy a system of white supremacy that had long dominated Mississippi, his native state.

"I have become a piece of art, a tourist attraction, a soothing image on the civil rights tour of the South, a public relations tool for the powers that be at Ole Miss, and feel-good icon of brotherly love and racial reconciliation, frozen in gentle docility," Meredith wrote.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...e-found-inside-trash-truck-by-black-employee/

NJ Police Investigate After Noose Found Inside Trash Truck By Black Employee
June 19, 2015 2:38 PM
By Cleve Bryan

EGG HARBOR Twp., NJ (CBS) — Police are investigating the origin of a noose discovered inside an Atlantic County trash truck by a black employee.

Scotty Henry says on the morning of June 3rd he went to his assigned truck at the Atlantic County Utility Authority and found a noose hanging on the passenger side of the vehicle.

ACUA president Richard Dovey told Eyewitness News by phone on Friday that an internal investigation began immediately but he initially did not think it “rose to the level of calling police.”

Tuesday evening Henry told the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders about the noose and since then county leaders have urged a full police investigation.

Dovey says on Friday morning two members of the Egg Harbor Township Police Department collected the rope as part of an investigation.

Henry continues to work at the ACUA where he’s been an employee for at least 10 years.

Freeholder Ernest Coursey, who Henry contacted prior to Tuesday’s meeting, says that Henry is fearful for his safety.

“This cannot be swept under the carpet. Just look at what happened in South Carolina this week. These matters need to be taken very seriously,” says Coursey, who says the decision not to report the incident immediately to police was a mistake.

Dovey says in retrospect the police should have been contacted sooner and on Friday the ACUA took to Twitter about the noose incident saying, “Together with the local authorities, we will continue to investigate this incident to determine who is behind this reprehensible act.”

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...nder-investigation-at-university-of-delaware/

Hate Crime Investigation At University Of Delaware
September 23, 2015 4:58 AM
By Justin Finch

NEWARK, Del. (CBS) – Police say what were at first believed to be three nooses were found hanging from a tree on the University of Delaware campus.

Campus authorities initially called it a ” hate crime” and spent Wednesday morning looking for whoever hung them behind one of the campus buildings.

Based on an investigation, however, University of Delaware Police determined this was not a hate crime and the items were actually remnants of paper lanterns from a previous event.

The noose-like items were first seen by a student who then notified campus police. They were found on a tree near Mitchell Hall, where guns right advocate Katie Pavlich spoke earlier in the week at the invitation of a student group.

Her remarks have been critical by the Black Lives Matter movement. Students supporting the movement held a silent protest the same night she spoke, at the same spot where items were later found.

Students planned a gathering outside the building at the tree where the objects were found Wednesday afternoon to hold a protest. Even though this is has since been determined to not be a hate crime, the University continues to encourage everyone to attend.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...m-UDel-Noose-Incident-Students-329298241.html

Pain, Skepticism Linger After University of Delaware Noose Incident
By Avi Wolfman-Arent | Newsworks.org
Updated at 9:20 PM EDT on Thursday, Sep 24, 2015

Three noose-like objects discovered hanging from a tree Tuesday night on the University of Delaware's main college green were little more than leftover decorations, say local police.

But outside the university's Center for Black Culture on bustling South College Avenue, you won't find many students who buy that narrative.

"You're telling me yesterday was the first time people saw these hanging from trees," asked University of Delaware sophomore Zulu Oyaro with mocking disbelief. "That's UD, man."

Authorities initially investigated the incident as a hate crime, but ultimately said the objects were remnants from paper lanterns that had been hung weeks earlier. That they were discovered Tuesday night--24 hours after a Black Lives Matter rally took place nearby--was mere coincidence, police say.

But for many black students at UD, that explanation wasn't sufficient. That's in part, they say, because of longstanding racial tensions on the Newark campus, where white undergraduates outnumber black undergrads 15 to 1.

"I don't even think that it's mostly anger at this point," said Jahaan Davis, a UD junior. "I think a lot of us we've been dealing with a lot of subtle and discreet racism on a day to day basis here. It's more so I think that we're tired."

At a rally held Wednesday evening on the college green, student after student described that racism--some indirect and some shockingly overt. Multiple students said they'd been called the n-word or other racial slurs while on campus. Their stories were met with tears and defiant cheers from the hundreds of students and faculty on hand, many of whom dressed in all black.

Interim UD President Nancy Targett and other top university officials sat quietly on a podium while the students talked. Though the university firmly believes the objects in the trees were not intended as racial affronts, Targett said student reaction indicates the university has much work to do.

"When I learned that this was not a hate crime I can't tell you how relieved I was," Targett said. "But I was also deeply disturbed to see how this incident exposed feelings of pain and fear in our students."

The University of Delaware did not admit black students until a 1950 lawsuit by civil rights attorney Louis Redding forced the school to integrate. Since then, however, the state's flagship university has continued to enroll a disproportionately low number of black students. Though 22 percent of the First State's population is black, only around 5 percent of the university's undergraduate population is African American.

Local politicians and advocates have prodded the school to improve those figures, and the state legislature recently set aside money so that a consultant could look into UD's hiring and student recruitment practices. University officials say they've heeded those calls, and that they want UD to be both diverse and welcoming. Student outcry Wednesday, however, delivered something of a reality check.

"I thought we were doing pretty well--not perfect, not all the time--but OK," said Targett. "Clearly, though, if some of our students feel this way--if this is their UD experience--then we're not doing enough."