In a disturbing incident, a black doll was found hanging on a noose from an electrical pole in California's South Lake Tahoe. This is at least the third such incident witnessed in California in recent days.
After receiving information, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department reached the scene and took the doll down with the help of Liberty Energy, the police department said in a statement. Although the investigation is underway, it hasn't yet located any witnesses or leads. It said that the incident doesn't actually amount as a hate crime, but it is documenting and investigating it as a Hate Incident.
Lt. Shannon Laney of South Lake Tahoe police department told LA Times that it appears that the incident was racially motivated. He described it as disgusting and that it doesn't represent the South Lake Tahoe Community in any way.
Amid the nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, this is the third such incident in California. The first two incidents took place in Sonoma County and the city of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles county.
Last Saturday, a twine noose was hanging from a tree at the Sonoma Raceway. Both, the Sonoma County Sheriff's office and the FBI are investigating the incident and are looking through video surveillance footage for leads in the case. The sheriff's office issued a statement stating that it understood the incident is disturbing for many people and that it took potential cases of hate crimes very seriously, CBS Local reported.
This incident came a day before a noose was discovered in driver Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway. Wallace is NASCAR's only black driver. Upon investigation, the FBI concluded that the noose was there since October last year.
A noose was also discovered in Santa Clarita on Monday. Lt. Ignacio Somoano described the rope as boasting-type. Similar nooses were also discovered last week in the city of Oakland. Mayor Libby Schaff said in a statement that such incidents will be investigated as hate crimes. She further said that according to some reports, the nooses were part of exercise equipment, but that doesn't excuse their torturous and terrorizing effects.
