Effigy hanging at Lake Merritt initiates probe
Oakland police and the FBI launched a joint hatecrime investigation Thursday to determine who is responsible for a fake body that a park visitor found hanging from a tree at Lake Merritt just two days after several nooses were strung up in a nearby area, authorities said.
Officers responded around 8:20 a.m. to a report of a “fake body hanging from a noose” on the 2100 block of Lakeshore Avenue, according to Oakland police. The caller said they took down the effigy, which consisted of material stuffed in the shape of a human body and had rope tied around the torso and neck, according to police. An American flag was found near the body.
The disturbing discovery came a day after Mayor Libby Schaaf said several nooses were found hanging from trees around the lake on Tuesday. Both incidents are being investigated as hate crimes, police said.
“The Oakland Police Department and the City of Oakland understand the historical and
harmful associations of ropes, nooses and effigies attached to trees, limbs or other objects that are often associated with hate crimes and racial violence,” police officials said in a statement. “We recognize that especially at this time, any symbolic messages such as these incidents frighten and harm our communities.”
The incidents come at a time of severe racial tension in the U.S., as people in cities and towns across the nation have protested and rioted over racism, police brutality and institutional inequities. Many of the demonstrations were inspired by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but numerous other incidents of black and brown people being beaten and killed by law enforcement are now being scrutinized.
Bay Area journalist and activist Dave “Davey D” Cook was among the first to draw attention to the effigy in Oakland when he posted photos Thursday morning on Facebook. The photos show what appears to be a figure tied with rope and covered in a bag.
A photograph distributed by police showed a figure resembling a human body with rope tied around it and a small American flag atop of it.
Community members said the ropes found earlier this week by the lake had been used for exercise equipment, according to police. One person “stated that he intentionally placed the ropes on the tree limbs for exercise and games several months ago,” officials said.
Kev Choice, a 44yearold who organized a tree painting following the discovery of the nooses, said he planned to visit the lake once again Thursday.
“It angers me that somebody feels that this is an appropriate space to do something like that, and it shows that we have a lot of work to do with race issues even in our own community,” Choice said. “Oakland is not a place where we tolerate hate or symbols of hate.”
Nooses have long symbolized the lynching of black people in the U.S., and for many they are a reminder of the nation’s disturbing history of slavery.
Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, whose district covers part of the lake, said she did not want to prejudge the intention of the effigy, but she called it “heartbreaking.”
“I want us to know what it is,” McElhaney said. “But I know that this is a very raw time and we need to be careful and caring for one another.
“I remind myself that as painful as these blemishes are, this is not the darkest time or period in our history as a nation . ... This is where we get to shine most and we don’t give up, because there are too many people who have fought to get us here.”
TurHa Ak, founder of Community Ready Corp., which has led efforts for civilians to patrol the lake in the wake of the recent discoveries, said he was not sure how the effigy got past the patrols.
“There’s a lot of questions that we are raising right now,” he said. “Right now is really convoluted and unclear, but we are going to be out here.”
Extra police officers have been assigned to patrol Lake Merritt, according to Oakland police. Authorities said they are working with other city agencies to “be aware of any items or objects in the lake area that should be documented and removed.”
The hate crime investigations in the Bay Area coincide with probes in Southern California, where two black men were found dead, hanging from trees.
The Associated Press reported that Malcolm Harsch’s body was found on May 31 near the city library in Victorville (San Bernardino County), and Robert Fuller was found on June 10 near City Hall in Palmdale (Los Angeles County).