Man caught hanging noose from tree charged with a hate crime, California police say
A California man was caught hanging a noose from a tree at a marina, officials said.
The Berkeley Police Department said a city employee confronted the man after seeing him tie a rope noose on Oct. 8 at the marina near South Cove, according to a news release.
“The man fastened the noose to a low-hanging tree branch (about 7’ high) and fled the area,” police said in the news release. “Before the man could leave the area, the staff member was able to photograph the suspect and later provide that photograph to the officers who responded.”
Officials then found the suspect, a 32-year-old unnamed man, and detained him, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of hanging a noose in a public park and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the police department.
The arrest comes after similar noose-related discoveries in the U.S., including:
- A South Carolina worker was suspended after an noose was found hanging in a county-owned work truck, McClatchy News reported in August.
- A Jimmy John’s restaurant in Georgia fired workers after video showed them making bread dough into an apparent noose, McClatchy News reported in July.
- In June, the FBI launched an investigation into a rope found in the garage of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, who is Black. The investigation revealed the rope had been there for months, and the case wasn’t considered a hate crime, McClatchy News reported.