The city of Oakland, Calif., has launched a hate crime investigation after nooses were found hanging from trees around a city lake, according to a statement from Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Reports that the nooses at Lake Merritt could be part of an exercise routine or equipment were discounted and did not “remove nor excuse their tortuous and terrorizing effects,” she wrote in her news statement. The nooses, found Tuesday morning, have since been removed.
“Symbols of racial violence have no place in Oakland and will not be tolerated,” Schaaf said in her statement.
