Sheriff Says Nooses Hung From Trees 'Misguided'

MILWAUKEE, WI — Authorities in Milwaukee say a 53-year-old Black man wanted to teach his son about the history of lynchings in America, and was the person responsible for using rope to hang six informational placards about black victims of violence in two Milwaukee-area parks.

News of the placards, and the way they were hung, spread quickly after the discovery Saturday.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas called the man's effort "a misguided attempt to shed light on a difficult subject to grasp in the U.S." Sheriff's officials said Friday that no criminal intent took place, and charges would not be filed.

"The man indicated that he placed the placards in the parks to invoke a dialogue in this community on how Black and Brown men and women are dying in our country," Lucas said in a statement Friday. "He further indicated that he wanted to teach his son a lesson about the history of lynchings in America and how they have taken on a different form from America’s past."

When investigators questioned the man, he told authorities it was "never his intention to stir up the kind of controversy that the discovery of the placards created."

Milwaukee County Sheriff’s deputies learned that six placards were affixed to a tree by rope in Riverside Park, 1500 E. Riverside Place.

The placards depicted the photographs of Black men and women who have lost their lives in encounters with law enforcement or private citizens and contained descriptions of each encounter. The placards were turned over to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

When Milwaukee County Sheriff's officials questioned the man, he told deputies he placed one set of placards in Riverside Park and another set at Atwater Park in Shorewood, 4000 North Lake Drive. Milwaukee County Sheriff’s investigators said they tried to find the second set of placards, but they were not recovered during the investigation.

The photos included Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Botham Jean, Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. This incident happened less than a month after George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Since then, marches and rallies have been held across the U.S. each day since, calling for long-overdue police and social justice reforms in society.

King Rick of the Milwaukee chapter of the Original Black Panthers said his group took the photos down from the night they were put up.

"Historically, African Americans have been hung and lynched," Rick said in a media report. "I don't care what anybody says, they can justify it all they want to. It was disrespectful not only to the memories of these individuals — our beloved individuals — but also to the African American community."