University of Delaware ‘Nooses’ Turn Out to Be Quite Innocent — Or Are They?

Are these nooses or not? If you’ve followed the University of Delaware story, you know that students found rope and wire-hanger ‘nooses’ hung from campus trees. A curious coincidence since a Black Lives Matter demonstration took place the day before. Now, comes word that those aren’t nooses. They’re leftover parts from lanterns that hung innocently during a college-sanctioned event.

“The items that were left in the tree were part of a decoration from a paper lantern that was used during an event held on The Green that was a UD-sanctioned event,” University of Delaware Police Chief Patrick Ogden said Wednesday morning.

“We received several reports from students who said they had seen the materials hanging in the tree. I am confident that we have determined the origin of these items,” Ogden said.

UPDATE: No nooses, no hate crime at Univ. of Delaware, officials say #6abc – http://t.co/xd8OHi5ygl | pic.twitter.com/Q0BR1tSAxe

— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) September 23, 2015

Case closed! Or is it? One side disagrees. Voices 4 the Voiceless, a community advocacy group, believes the university doesn’t want the unwanted attention. They believe U of D is covering up the real story.

“I just believe UD doesn’t want an uproar on campus,” said Keith James, president of the Voices 4 the Voiceless community advocacy group.

James also feels officials rushed through the investigation and deemed it “… too inconsistent. … I don’t believe that at all.” Time to march on those paper lanterns. For too long they’ve decorated trees and provided light and enjoyment.

University of Delaware President, Nancy M. Targett, put out a statement saying she supports the police findings.

Thanks to tips from students who responded to our earlier call for information and the investigative work of University of Delaware Police, it has been determined that the three noose-like items found outside Mitchell Hall were not instruments of a hate crime, but the remnants of paper lanterns from an event previously held on The Green.

At the same time, she recognized a ‘dialog’ needs to continue. Because, politics.

So, nooses or lanterns? People will see what they want to see. In truth, these are actually used by squirrels to swing back and forth during their downtime. Somewhere, there’s a couple of squirrels holding their tiny bellies and giggling over the the commotion they caused.