Three House Democrats have asked the Justice Department to investigate a series of hanging deaths of Black Americans, and their use of the word lynching has drawn criticism after local investigators ruled most of the cited cases suicides.
Rep. Shontel Brown of Ohio wrote on X: “In the last year, there’s been an alarming increase in Black Americans found dead hanging from trees… That’s why I’ve joined [Rep. Ayanna Pressley] to demand a federal investigation into possible lynchings.”
Pressley, of Massachusetts, sent a letter seeking a “thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigation into every hanging death of a Black individual.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called the deaths “racial terror” and likened them to “widespread modern-day lynchings.”
Fox News Digital reported investigators ruled most cases suicides.
In Cobb County, Georgia, authorities concluded 21-year-old Kyle Bassinga was alone and suspected no foul play.
Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Miami-Dade sheriff’s department ruled two further deaths suicides, with at least three more similarly ruled.
One case is being treated as a homicide: the death of Tasia Fortune in Mississippi, where a suspect, Jarques Ratliff, was arrested.
Critics online, among them Dean Cain, accused the lawmakers of “inventing racism.” Brown’s office did not return a request for comment.
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