University of Delaware's 'nooses' found hanging from tree were leftover decorations

Home Top

Watch the terrifying moment world's largest passenger plane lurches to one side as it battles high winds during dramatic landing
High school teen who defended a blind classmate who was being beaten by a bully is SUSPENDED and kicked off football team
Nursery staff 'encouraged' children to fight on camera as Texas mother launches court case
Couple recalls the stomach-churning moment they saw their waiter's spit in their soda...and the cops proved it was him with a DNA test
Saudi prince arrested on suspicion of a sex crime after neighbors claim they saw a bleeding woman screaming for help and trying to climb out of his LA compound
Revealed: How Hillary's right-hand woman Huma Abedin avoided disclosing her husband's business dealings after Clinton PERSONALLY signed off on employment deal
Ghost Adventures star killed his estranged wife, himself and her boyfriend after HE was abused for years by his diminutive spouse
Good luck in economy! Air India proposes world's longest non-stop flight - an 18-hour, 8,700mile marathon between Bengaluru and San Francisco
Revealed, the 10 best stress-busting foods - and the good news is chocolate's on the list!
Hunter who broke both legs in the wilderness wrote goodbye letter to his wife and kids then prepared for suicide - but he changed his mind and crawled for FOUR DAYS to safety
Baptist church members vote to FIRE pastor who kicked out a 103-year-old member after she disagreed with his services
Frat boy who told freshmen which girls to invite to parties, how to get them drunk and ranked them by hotness is expelled
Touching moment Pope Francis blesses girl, 17, in a wheelchair who is suffering from spina bifida and wants to be an actress
Pope Francis in the Big Apple: Pontiff kicks off whirlwind New York City visit with speech at the United Nations followed by visit to the 9/11 memorial and mass at Madison Square Garden
PIERS MORGAN: The Pope's right: America doesn't have to be a country driven by gun-toting, blood-thirsty, planet-destroying bigots
Michelle Obama wore a $2,300 dress to meet Pope Francis in Washington earlier this week despite his views on unbridled capitalism
Trump gets BOOED by the crowd as he turns up to see the Pope - after he rejected Francis' call for compassion on immigration
Justice Ginsburg appears to doze off as Pope Francis gives historic address to Congress - nine months after falling asleep during the State of the Union
'I'm gunna take my shoe off and throw it at his head': Hot mic catches woman making threats at Pope Francis moments before he walked into Congress
'There were bodies, just everywhere': Survivors describe the horrifying scene after duck boat hit a bus in Seattle and left four students dead and 52 injured
The terrifying cockroach robo-SPY that could soon perform reconnaissance missions for the Russian military
How your child's teddy could trigger food poisoning: 80% of cuddly toys harbour harmful bacteria - while one in four are contaminated with faeces
How Gestapo thugs waltzed into plum jobs after the war: Their horrors are well chronicled, but new book reveals a deeply shocking twist
Apple's iPhone 6s hits the high street: First customers - including a ROBOT - get their hands on the next-generation device

Students at the Newark campus were horrified to find the apparent nooses just a day after a Black Lives Matter protest held nearby
On Wednesday, authorities revealed the three 'nooses' were actually the remnants of paper lanterns from an earlier campus event
However, the revelation came too late to stop the outcry on social media from students and others

Published: 09:28 EST, 23 September 2015 | Updated: 18:32 EST, 23 September 2015

View
comments

The University of Delaware says three items found hanging from a tree on campus were not nooses, but remnants of paper lanterns left over from an event.

However, the revelation came too late to stop the outcry on social media from students and others who feared the apparent nooses found Tuesday were a racist statement made just one day after a peaceful campus Black Lives Matter protest.

University of Delaware President Nancy Targett said the incident revealed the campus' sensitivity to the potential issue and shows a need for 'continuing dialogue.'

Leftover decor: The University of Delaware says three items found hanging from a tree on campus were not nooses, but remnants of paper lanterns left over from an event

These paper lanterns were hung for an earlier event, but the discovery of the 'nooses' left behind also happened to coincide with a Black Lives Matter protest

University of Delaware President Nancy Targett said the incident revealed the campus' sensitivity to the potential issue and shows a need for 'continuing dialogue'

'The sensitivity of our campus to this potential issue clearly indicates a need for continuing dialog within our community. I continue to encourage everyone to join me at the gathering scheduled at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon on The Green,' Targett said in a statement.

Monday's Black Lives Matter gathering was a silent protest against a speech being given by Fox News pundit Katie Pavlich, who has referred to Black Lives Matter as a 'violent hate group'.

Pavlich, a vocal gun rights supporter, was invited to speak at the school by the Students for the Second Amendment, which has about 140 members, reports Delaware Online.

Pavlich took the opportunity to mock Black Lives Matter after Wednesday's revelation and responded to Targett's decision to go forward with the campus gathering, by tweeting in response to the president:

'About how to....clean up lantern decorations after parties?'

President Targett initially announced Wednesday that the discovery of the items hanging in front of a campus building Tuesday night prompted a hate crime investigation.

Monday's Black Lives Matter gathering was a silent protest against a speech being given by Fox News pundit Katie Pavlich, who has referred to Black Lives Matter as a 'violent hate group'. She took the noose incident as an opportunity to further mock the movement

'We are both saddened and disturbed that this deplorable act has taken place on our campus,' Targett wrote late Tuesday.

While this week's incident turned out to be a false alarm, college campuses are no stranger to similar--but genuine--racist acts.

Earlier this month, a former University of Mississippi student who admitted helping place a noose on a statue of a civil rights activist was sentenced to prison.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Graeme Phillip Harris on September 17 to six months in prison beginning Jan. 4, followed by 12 months' supervised release.

Harris pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees, and prosecutors agreed to drop a felony charge.