Police Open Investigation After This Florida State Attorney Received a Noose and Racist Letters in the Mail
An official investigation has been opened by police after the Orange-Osceola State Attorney received a noose in the mail.
Aramis Ayala is Florida's first African-American state attorney. Ayala’s office reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office, the Orlando Sentinel reported. According to the incident report, Ayala's office has received two racist letters, one of which contained the noose.
The first letter was received on March 20, when a clerk noticed a letter addressed to Ayala with racist messaging. A week later, the second letter was sent with a noose made of green twine. Police believe both letters were sent from the same source.
Clerks informed Ayala of the letters shortly after.
Ayala “believes the hangman’s noose was meant as a threat to her as a public official,” according to an incident report.
Last month, Ayala became a controversial figure when she announced she would not seek the death penalty against any defendant. This includes Markeith Loyd, the man accused of killing Orlando officer Debra Clayton.
After the decision was announced, Gov. Rick Scott reassigned 23 of her capital cases to another prosecutor. Ayala then filed a lawsuit against Scott, claiming he has no authority to remove any of her cases.
The suspicious timing of the hate crime has led many to believe it was an inside job
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