HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) – There’s little disagreement that the object found in a white Mississippi firefighter’s locker was a hangman’s noose. But as with many things in America these days, there’s deep disagreement about what it meant.
To some it was a reminder of lynchings that took hundreds of black lives in Mississippi, and it had no place on city property – though there was no suggestion that firefighter Shelton Russell had ever displayed it or used it to intimidate anyone.
To Russell it didn’t carry that meaning. If anything, it symbolized America’s lawless wild-west culture, where cowboy vigilantes meted out rough justice.
It happened in August in the town of Hattiesburg, home to two universities and about 46,000 people. About 53% of the town’s residents are black, and about 42% are white.
City officials have declined to make anyone available for interviews because it’s a personnel matter and might involve future litigation. Many details emerged during a civil service commission hearing Oct. 10 as well as documents released to The Associated Press.