Yesterday morning, we were confronted with an unexpected hanging at the entrance of Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Given the emotions associated with the back to back murders of #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile, many social media users were very skeptical of reports that the hanging was a suicide. Some even reported that a KKK rally took place just the night before, but according to the AJC, none of that was true.
In fact, we now have the details of the crime scene which allowed investigators to conclude that the young man did commit suicide.
The AJC reports, “According to the police report, the man had marks on the front of his jeans and light pollen on the front of his shirt — marks consistent with climbing a tree. Next to the tree was a large, wheeled garbage can, green in color with a black top.”
Police say that they then examined the top of the garbage can and saw that there were shoe prints “near the top edges of the can” and that they “appeared to be fresh and were the same pattern as the shoes the male was wearing.”
Mayor Kasim Reed made a statement today where he explained why he has now made the decision to refer the case to the FBI.
“We made the judgment that it was best to call our partners at the FBI because we did not want there to be a hint of a cover-up,” he said. “I wasn’t driven by social media. The chief and I talked early that morning, and because of the circumstances, the cleanest action was to have the FBI as a partner.”
The FBI is not commenting on the case right now, but we will keep you guys updated.
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/piedmont-park-hanging-what-we-know/nrtkQ/
