Authorities in Mississippi probing the death of black man found hanging from a tree

The area near where the body was found.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/CJLeMaster)

Authorities in Mississippi are investigating the death of a black man whose body was found hanging from a tree Thursday morning.

See more

Claiborne County Sheriff Marvin Lucas said the man was hanging by a bedsheet, and they have yet to rule if it was a homicide or suicide. Although the man has not been formally identified, the state N.A.A.C.P. chapter identified him as 54-year-old Otis James Byrd, who had been missing from Port Gibson, Mississippi, since March 2. The body was found about 500 yards away from a house that Byrd had been renting, The New York Times reports.

Derrick Johnson, the president of the state conference of the N.A.A.C.P., said in a statement that he wants to see the federal government step in and provide assistance due to the circumstances. "Considering Mr. Byrd's body was found hanging from a tree, we are calling on federal authorities to immediately investigate to determine whether his death is a result of a racial hate crime," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.