Anger in N.C.
Protesters demand answers in hanging
HUNDREDS of protesters marched through a North Carolina town Saturday to demand answers in the suspicious hanging death of a local high school football hero.
The mother and brother of 17-year-old Lennon Lacy led the demonstrators from the First Baptist Church in Bladenboro. The black youth’s body was found dangling from a swingset in the tiny burg on Aug. 29.
“When I saw his body, I knew he could not do that,” said mom Claudia Lacy, 51. “Lennon talked to me about everything. We were too close for me not to know or not to notice.
“There are a lot of things that don’t add up.”
The assembled crowd filled the streets of the town of just 1,700 people, waving signs demanding “Justice for Lennon Lacy” and proclaiming “Black Lives Matter.”
Anthony White, Lennon’s friend and teammate on the West Bladen Knights, said he can’t believe that his pal — who dreamed of playing in the NFL — would kill himself just hours before a game.
“It couldn’t be,” he said. “He never thought about it. He never talked like that. I believe somebody actually killed him. Somebody must have been jealous of him. He was the perfect guy.”
The rally came one day after federal investigators confirmed they were reopening the probe into Lennon’s sudden and shocking death.
“I’m grateful,” Claudia Lacy said about the new look at what happened. “It shouldn’t have had to get this far.”
Lennon Lacy, the youngest of four boys, was found dangling from a swingset near a mobile home park. A dog leash and a belt were wrapped around his neck. The swingset was in clear view of 10 trailers.
The state medical examiner
quickly ruled the death a suicide, but the Lacy family and the state NAACP chapter have argued against the finding and called for a deeper probe.
Among the strange findings at the scene: Lennon was wearing shoes that were nearly two sizes too small and did not belong to him.
His hands were not bagged to check for DNA evidence of a possible assailant, and the family complained the investigators never considered whether Lennon was targeted because of an interracial romance.
“I will continue to fight for justice, to fight for what’s right,” said his brother Pierre Lacy, 31. “He was a light and a beacon to the world. He was not only my brother, he was my best friend.”
A couple who traveled two hours from Raleigh to the Bladenboro rally said the move to reopen the case was a step in the right direction.
“This can’t go on in a community, in anybody’s community,” said the 68-year-old husband. “It’s almost shocking more people aren’t moved by something like this. It’s just not right.”
They were joined on a 1 1/2-mile march down Martin Luther King Jr. St. by residents of Bladenboro and some of the surrounding towns in the rural area.
Helen White, 56, said the surrounding county had a history of racial tensions over the years. She was happy to see the U.S. Attorney’s Office get involved.
“If the court system doesn’t work for us, the police department doesn’t work for us, where else are we supposed to go for justice?” she asked.
The Rev. William Barber, head of the local NAACP, stood with Claudia Lacy as he exhorted the crowd to imagine if Lennon was their son.
“We want you to feel the pain!” he shouted. “We want an offensive investigation, not a defensive one ... Treat this case like it was your 17-year-old found hanging. Would you be satisfied with all these unanswered questions?”