this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025

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561

Black Student Found Hanging From Tree At Delta State University (thesource.com)

submitted 1 week ago by andros_rex@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

82 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I’m not seeing any mainstream media coverage. They’re trying to pass this off as a suicide.

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[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 160 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I’m not seeing any mainstream media coverage.

It really irks me when people use "mainstream media" as a pejorative like there's some kind of conspiracy. There are way more sources covering it than that, but I think that's more than enough to make my point.

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 70 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Those are all local news outlets. This is the first I'm hearing of this. I live in Atlanta.

[–] scops@reddthat.com 43 points 1 week ago

AP News has picked it up now at least.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The second and third ones on the list are MSN & Newsweek. So, if by "local" you mean "US based", or by "all" you mean "sone."

ETA https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/body-black-student-found-hanging-tree-mississippi-rcna231661

[–] humorlessrepost@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Most local news outlets aren’t local.

For an Atlanta example, 11Alive is owned by Tegna, which owns over 50 stations, and is being acquired by Nexstar, after which they’ll have hundreds.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Newsweek and MSN are local?

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It really irks me when people use “mainstream media” as a pejorative like there’s some kind of conspiracy

A small number of private companies with national syndication are owned by a cartel of billionaires. These billionaires regularly meet to discuss and align themselves on policies that benefit their group at the expense of everyone else. The policies they agree to are reflected in the media coverage.

This is a textbook conspiracy. Just not an "Alex Jones" style conspiracy, where a Murdoch and an Ellison and a Gates have to be lizard people to spice up the relatively banal affair of promoting tax cuts, deregulation, and white supremacy.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

When I posted this, the Google search I did only gave me two results. There are more now, but I had only seen anything about it in a Facebook group I was in.

It does seem to be being picked up more. It is very concerning that the family are saying that his limbs were broken and the police are not. I have zero faith that there will be a genuine investigation - I do think it will be covered up and forgotten within a month, while we still have people pushing for “moments of silence” in schools for the dead Nazi.

[–] ZephyrXero@lemmy.world 153 points 1 week ago (2 children)

If there was a black man hung in Mississippi, odds are that it was NOT a suicide. This is awful

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 114 points 1 week ago (2 children)

“As of this time, there’s no evidence of foul play”

Yeah, no evidence at all. Not like racial tensions at their highest in 50+ years, political assassinations happening on college campuses, and a Southern university smack in the center of where KKK activity was an open secret just a generation ago.

Probably he slipped and fell, maybe he was learning Russian culture /s

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 57 points 1 week ago

Bolivar County fought for fifty years to keep its high schools segregated.

I’m absolutely confident that we can trust the Bolivar County Police department to thoroughly investigate the death of a black college student /s

[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (4 children)

None of that is relevant to this case. Racial tensions are high and it is entirely possible that had nothing to do with this guy's death. There's no evidence to conclude anything. That can change but right now the state cannot make claims they cannot support with actual evidence.

If they assert this was a racially motivated killing then they need to have suspects or direct evidence fir this (eg slurs written on the body) as it would be impossible to maintain this motive without them.

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[–] primrosepathspeedrun@anarchist.nexus 26 points 1 week ago (13 children)

The cops said it was a suicide. Are you not trusting the police in Mississippi to be honest about when a black man seeking education found hanging from a tree is suicide?

Are you saying you don't trust the police to not murder whoever they want for no reason with no accountability then ask for extra money to do more?

Because that's an awfully cynical thing to suggest!

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

Historically accurate too

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[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 96 points 1 week ago (5 children)

This would be the first acknowledged US lynching since '81. 1981.

[–] brendansimms@lemmy.world 74 points 1 week ago (1 children)

they'll call it a suicide and keep the last acknowledgement in the 80's.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yup.

Dude had defensive wounds like bruises and a broken arm. Anyways, it’s definitely suicide, so we don’t have to look into it any further /s

[–] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 51 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

Dude had defensive wounds like bruises and a broken arm.

Citation needed especially since the Coroner's department has specifically refuted this.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think they were joking about that like people say someone committed suicide with two shots to the back of the head. But thanks for posting that article, it does say the coroner didn't find any evidence of assault so far.

[–] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 26 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I think they were joking about that

Nah, there's a pile of misinformation circulating on social media claiming that the deceased had broken arms / legs / bruises / etc.

People unthinkingly gobble it up because it fits their world view. Farther down in the comments here you can find people already claiming that it's a cover-up / conspiracy because the Coroner's Statement (he's black BTW) doesn't jive with what they want to believe.

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[–] primrosepathspeedrun@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 week ago

Well yeah. Look at people who try and fail to kill themselves. Usually no fresh defensive wounds. Clearly that's what they're always missing.

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Call me crazy but I remember a few of these exact circumstances over the years. Always passed off as an accident or suicide or something.....

[–] Juice@midwest.social 6 points 1 week ago

Would have to be acknowledged

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Would Epstein have been considered Lynched?

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[+] NJSpradlin@lemmy.world 50 points 1 week ago (3 children)

[deleted]

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 57 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

“As of this time, there’s no evidence of foul play,” Peeler said, adding that the Bolivar County Coroner’s Office retrieved Reed’s body for further examination. Deputy Coroner Murray Roark, who assisted in the medical review, stated there were no signs of broken limbs and suggested the case pointed toward self-harm, though the investigation remains active.

Kind of comes over like "We can tell this isn't a lynching because we always break the victim's legs."

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 28 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There have been rumors that both of the guy's legs were broken. IDK whether this is just the coroner's office clearing up wild social media speculation, or if they're so brazen about a coverup that they're willing to lie about the state of his body, but that's why they specifically talked about broken limbs.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Supposedly the autopsy report will be released in full, but as you say - if they are willing to cover it up then the report won't matter.

An independent review would be needed, which, with this admin especially, isn't going to happen.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Presumably they're going to release the body to the family at some point, and at that stage it'll become obvious whether the legs are broken or not broken. It would have to be a pretty shockingly brazen coverup for that part of the story to be true and covered up.

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

"Oops, we accidentally cremated him."

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 9 points 1 week ago

Correct, that kind of thing has happened before. That would be a shockingly brazen coverup.

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[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It would have to be a pretty shockingly brazen coverup for that part of the story to be true and covered up.

I agree, and at the same time... I can still see it as a possibility given everything else going on. There are plenty of ways "unfortunate mishandling" can happen.

I have even lower trust these days. There is so much willingness to blatantly lie all the way up to the federal level that I doubt I would trust any report produced. Not to say I'd assume it was something else, just that I have virtually zero trust in the police there or the coroner.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What I'm saying is that you do not have to trust the police or the coroner in order to know whether the guy's legs were actually broken.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

I understood entirely.

What I said was there is entirely the possibility of "Oops! His body went to the furnace instead", or "oh no! The body was mishandled and fell", or a whole variety of other things.

Off the top of my head, I can recall cases where:

The body is sent to the wrong place
The wrong body is sent to the right place
Bodies not kept at temperature and then sent for cremation
Bodies suffered damage due to falling down stairs
Mishandling of bodies and reporting with the specific intent to cover up crimes (CA Sheriffs office, I remember this one distinctly, because they were protecting cops)

I'm saying its not a guarantee until the body of this kid ends up with the family, and given the history in this particular area.... I have little to no trust of those involved.

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[–] ech@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 week ago

Not specifically him, but...yeah, pretty much. Lynchings typically involve torture and bodily mutilation. They don't want to "just" kill someone, they want to send a message. Hiding it as something else kind of defeats the purpose.

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[–] whiwake@lemmy.cafe 7 points 1 week ago

I had to read that part of the article twice to be sure my brain wasn’t broken.

[–] ThatGuy46475@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If it were a legitimate lynching he wouldn’t be pregnant

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[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 36 points 1 week ago

I’m not seeing any mainstream media coverage.

If a white conservative student athlete in a deep-blue area of the country had been shot and killed yesterday for no really apparent reason, it would be the lead story on every single news that exists.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago

Just like that guy who "killed himself" by wrapping a rope around a tree trunk. Not a tree branch. He was tied to a tree around the trunk by his neck. They called it a suicide. No foul play involved.

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Strange fruit indeed...

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[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

This happened in my hometown to a skatepark peer of mine. The cops also ruled it a suicide but none of the skaters that knew him believe that.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Student Found Hanging From Tree At Delta State University

America: How tragic, we must do more to protect students from the pressures of modern life!

Black Student Found Hanging From Tree At Delta State University

America: Probably gang related.

[–] TheMinister@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nah, we immediately think of lynchings.

[–] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

Would the kkk qualify as a gang?

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 15 points 1 week ago

https://www.blackenterprise.com/delta-university-hanging-reed-student-mississippi/

Since link seems to be broken right now

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