Oakland police found five ropes hanging from various trees around Lake Merritt and are investigating the case as a potential hate crime, Mayor Libby Schaaf said Wednesday afternoon.
A social media post shared Tuesday afternoon suggested that the ropes looked like nooses, and Oakland police went to the area of Staten and Bellevue avenues to investigate.
Police said in a news release that they found the five ropes attached to various trees. Investigators took photos of the ropes and public works crews removed them from the trees.
“We have to start with the assumption that these are hate crimes. We cannot take these actions lightly,” Schaaf said at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon to address the nooses.
“Intentions do not matter. It is incumbent on all of us to know the actual history of racial violence, of terrorism that a noose represents,” Schaaf said. “We, as a city, must remove these terrorizing symbols from the public view and investigate these as hate crimes until proven otherwise.”
The Oakland mayor was joined by Nicholas Williams, director of the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Youth Development, and Theo Williams, a member of the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission.
“It’s devastating. Everyone throughout the community is hurt,” Theo Williams said. “Personally, I think whoever did the act should be found and held responsible. And prosecuted to the highest extent of the law that we can hold them to and be made an example of.”
Whoever put up the ropes may have had no ill intention — police said in their news release that several community members said they were used for exercise equipment, with one person claiming ownership of them and saying he put them on tree limbs several months ago for exercise and games.
“Initial information came in that this was exercise equipment. Some of it may have been, but some of it absolutely was not,” Nicholas Williams said. “We do not want to scare off any of our citizens. We will be very vigilant about the fact that Oakland parks are open and exclusive for everyone.” Schaaf said the investigation has been turned over to the FBI.
“The intentions will matter to whether or not this is prosecuted as a hate crime, but the intentions don’t matter when it comes to terrorizing the public,” Schaaf said. “The intentions do not matter because the harm is real.”
In the Oakland police statement, the department called on community members to be mindful when using ropes in a recreational manner because of the historical and harmful associations.
“What a privilege for those of us who don’t feel complete fear and terror when we see a rope in a tree. That is a privilege that so many of our African American residents do not enjoy. And this is a moment that we must be cognizant of that reality,” Schaaf said. “As white people, we have to become knowledgeable and educated about the impacts of our actions, whether they are well intentioned or not.”
The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement about the ropes in Oakland, saying they were particularly troubling following the recent hangings of two black men in Southern California in separate cases currently under investigation
“At a time when police and white supremacist violence targeting the Black community is increasing, placing nooses in public spaces is an intentional act of intimidation,” CAIR-SFBA executive director Zahra Billoo said in the statement.
Another noose was found near Oakland’s Lake Merritt on Thursday morning as a member of the public reported finding a fake body hanging from a tree with rope tied around its torso and neck.
The Oakland Police Department received the report at 8:20 a.m. Thursday along the 2100 block of Lakeshore Avenue and responded to the scene to find the effigy and rope on the ground next to a tree, with an American flag lying on the ground next to it.
According to police, the caller said they had removed the body from the tree before officers arrived.
Oakland police and the FBI are collaborating to investigate who placed the fake body in the tree. The two agencies are also investigating five ropes found hanging from trees around Lake Merritt earlier this week. Both cases are being investigated as hate crimes, according to Oakland police.
“We recognize that especially at this time, any symbolic messages such as these incidents frighten and harm our communities,” Oakland police said in a statement. “The Oakland Police Department and the city of Oakland take all allegations of hate crimes seriously.”
Additional patrols have been assigned to Lake Merritt. Oakland police are also working with the Department of Public Works and Parks and Recreation to be aware of any objects in the lake area that should be removed.
People who have information on either case are advised to contact the department’s hate crime hotline at (510) 637-4283. Oakland police investigators can also be contacted at (510) 238-3728.
Oakland residents may also call the OPD Hate Crime Hotline at (510) 637-4283 if they are a victim or witness to a hate crime. Callers may remain anonymous when calling the hotline.