Delhi police are investigating a potentially disturbing incident at Delhi High School, where a noose was found lying on the stage of its auditorium. Chief Roy Williams says it was discovered by a custodian who notified the Superintendent of Schools. Williams then visited the school personally to assess the situation.
“It was lying on the auditorium stage,” said Williams. “The Superintendent of Schools contacted me and I went to the school and took statements from the principal, a custodial worker, and a suspect.”
The suspect is one of the contractors working on renovations at the school, and because of that video cameras within the auditorium were deactivated, leaving no footage of what happened. Chief Williams says the next steps will be taken by the District Attorney’s office.
“I’m going to submit a report to our district attorney to see if there was an intent to purposely do this and if so, we will go forward with possibly a hate crime charge,” he said.
The incident has been met with outrage among members of the Delhi community. Nooses have long been a symbol of hatred towards Black Americans, and though the contractor says it was “unintentional,” Chief Williams says it is his obligation to provide as much information as possible for the DA to make a determination of just what happened and what should happen.
“The contractor said it wasn’t intentional, but to take the time out and tie a noose of that nature it takes some time and it takes some knowledge to do that,” Williams said. “So, it’s a touchy situation.”
Richland Parish Superintendent Sheldon Jones said that the RPSB will cooperate fully with law enforcement during the investigation.
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