Police officers are investigating a string of hangings involving six people of color as the latest victim was discovered hanging from a tree in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Since the death of Floyd last month, four men and a young boy have been found hanging from a tree in different places and dates in Portland, Southern California, New York City, and Houston.
Authorities have ruled each incident a suicide but every case has triggered suspicions and fears about lynchings.
After a Hispanic man was found hanging in Houston, Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee told Fox26: “People are on edge. They are nervous. This is a troubling, a challenging time for us. It is shocking in our community, and no death in that form should go uninvestigated.
Authorities said that there was no evidence of foul play after the Hispanic man’s body was discovered in the community of Shady Acres. Officials are waiting for autopsy results from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences and haven’t identified the man.
Two days after the incident, a 17-year-old boy was found hanging outside Ehrhardt Elementary School in a nearby neighborhood but authorities said their investigation points toward suicide.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “Deputies were called to the parking area of a school in the 6600 block of Rosebrook, where a teenage black male was found deceased. Based on security video, witnesses and other evidence, preliminary indications are the male hanged himself.”
It also said that the teen “had a history of suicide attempts, with one attempted as recently as a few weeks ago.”
But Congresswoman Jackson believes that there “could be to the story after an eerie pattern of recent suicides where black men were found hanging from trees.”
People in the community also expressed their concerns, according to KRIV.
One resident named Anthony Scott said: “We’re talking about multiple people hanging from trees across America in the middle of a race war that’s going.”
Another said: “With everything that’s been transpiring, with all of the hangings that have been taking place within the last two weeks, why wouldn’t you automatically assume foul play? No one is hanging themselves from a tree.”
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