Noose found on tree in NC park where Confederate monument is being removed, police say
Police say they’re investigating after a noose was found in a North Carolina park.
The noose was found Monday on a tree in Battle Park in Rocky Mount, police say — the same park where a Confederate monument is being removed.
Posts and photos of the noose circulating on social media Monday and Tuesday show it on the branch of a tree that appears to have fallen.
The Rocky Mount Police Department was called about the noose, Cpl. Clay Wilder told McClatchy News on Tuesday. They took it from the park and are investigating, he said.
It was found the same day the city began removing a Confederate monument from the park.
The Rocky Mount City Council voted 6-1 on June 8 to take down the statue that has stood in Battle Park for more than 100 years, McClatchy News previously reported. The city has a contract with the Greenville Monument Company to remove it over a five-day period, starting Monday, the city wrote on Facebook. Once fully removed, it will remain stored on city property until claimed and relocated by a new owner.
By Monday afternoon, crews had removed the statue of a Confederate soldier from the top of the monument’s column, the Rocky Mount Telegram reports.
Confederate monuments have long been a divisive topic in North Carolina and other states. But debate and calls for their removal have been reignited in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer — who has since been fired and charged with murder — pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes.
Several local governments in North Carolina have taken steps to remove monuments, McClatchy News reports.
Police did not have any further information about the noose found in Battle Park as of Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Noose found on tree in NC park where Confederate monument is being removed, police say."
