Noose Found at African American History Museum Is Second Found on Museum Grounds in a Week
On Wednesday, a section of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., was closed for an hour after a guest found a noose on the floor of one of the rooms, Smithsonian officials said.
Unfortunately, this is the second instance of a noose being found on the grounds of a Smithsonian museum. On Friday, a noose was discovered hanging on a tree outside the Hirshhorn Museum.
The rope found Wednesday was spotted by a tourist inside the Era of Segregation 1786-1968 gallery, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas told BuzzFeed News.
"It was rather a small rope thing and not something that would set off the magnetometers," Thomas told Buzzfeed.
While police investigated the scene, park police closed the museum.
NMAAHC founding director Lonnie Bunch issued a statement calling the act 'deplorable'
In an email sent to Smithsonian staff, Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton spoke to how the institution will not be deterred by such a heinous act.
“The Smithsonian family stands together in condemning this act of hatred and intolerance, especially repugnant in a museum that affirms and celebrates the American values of inclusion and diversity,” Skorton wrote in an Institution-wide email. “We will not be intimated. Cowardly acts like these will not, for one moment, prevent us from the vital work we do.”
The noose discovery coincides with the apparent rise in hate crimes and bigotry that have occurred this year
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