Black man in Palmdale found hung from a tree.

[Oompa Loompa]

Robert Fuller hanging death: Palmdale community seeks answers - CNN

(CNN)Dozens of people gathered at Palmdale city council chambers Friday as officials held a press conference on the death of a 24-year-old black man who was found hanging from a tree in northern Los Angeles County.

Shortly after 3:30 a.m. Monday, a passerby noticed a man, later identified as Robert L. Fuller, hanging from a tree in Palmdale, California. Fire department personnel who responded to the scene determined he was dead, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
Palmdale city described it as "an alleged death by suicide."

 

[essentialsaltes]

A terrible thing, but I hope the initial determination of suicide holds up, because the alternative is horrible.

Apropos of nothing, that area (Palmdale, Lancaster) has seen a large increase in the black population in recent years. Black people who find Los Angeles too expensive to live have been moving there, some 60 miles away. The black population makes up a higher percentage there than in LA proper.

 

[Hank77]

A terrible thing, but I hope the initial determination of suicide holds up, because the alternative is horrible.

Agree.

 

[tall73]

Feds to review cases into hanging deaths of 2 black men

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities will review local investigations into the hanging deaths of two black men in Southern California to determine whether federal law was violated, officials said Monday.


Local authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths of Robert Fuller in Palmdale and Malcolm Harsch in Victorville and early indications point both to suicide, but sheriffs have pledged to continue to investigate the cases.

Man Found Hanging From A Tree In Houston Days After Similar Instances In L.A.

A man has reportedly been found dead and hanging from a tree Monday morning (June 15) in a vacant lot in Houston’s Shady Acres neighborhood.

According to Houston Police Spokesperson Jodi Silva, the death is “believed to be a suicide,” however the official cause of death is pending until an autopsy is performed.


Death of man found hanged from tree in Manhattan park ruled a suicide: medical examiner

The death of a man found hanged from a tree in a Manhattan park has been ruled a suicide, officials said Monday.

Dominique Alexander, 27, of Kingsbridge Terrace in the Bronx, died by hanging June 9, a spokesperson from the city’s medical examiner confirmed.



I know we have a major suicide problem in the United States. But four suicides by outdoor hangings in such a short time?

 

[Basil the Great]

Much of the news lately is scary. It is hard to believe that we are living in 2020.

 

[98cwitr]

A terrible thing, but I hope the initial determination of suicide holds up, because the alternative is horrible.

If it doesn't...then we've only seen the tip of the iceberg. Absolutely tragic.

 

[tall73]

Nooses in trees at Oakland's Lake Merritt spark hate-crime investigation, mayor says

Authorities in Oakland have launched a hate-crime investigation after several nooses were found hanging on trees around Lake Merritt, Mayor Libby Schaaf said Wednesday.

Freeman said she saw something swinging while walking around the lake, got a closer look, and snapped photos and recorded video.

“Apparently, the guy who put the rope up there, he said it was for a swing,” Freeman said. “Mind you, I’ve never seen a swing set that resembles a noose. It looks like a noose, it swings like a noose, I thought it was a noose. And I just thought I’d bring awareness.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Further context about the area.

In the Antelope Valley, a history of racism fuels suspicions over Robert Fuller’s death

The sunbaked, high desert cities of Lancaster and Palmdale — split along Avenue M but nearly indistinguishable — have undergone dramatic growth and demographic change in recent decades.

In 1990, the Black population of the two cities combined was about 7%. By 2018, it had risen to nearly 17%, according to a Times analysis of census data. The Latino population grew from about 18% to 51% over that time period.

Five years ago, Los Angeles County reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that sheriff’s deputies had systematically harassed and discriminated against Black people and Latinos in Lancaster and Palmdale. Some of the worst abuses included surprise, military-style sweeps of federally subsidized Section 8 housing, in which armed deputies accompanied housing authorities to look for violations of housing rules, causing some to be evicted.

Federal investigators also found that Black people were much more likely to be stopped and searched than other residents and that deputies had used excessive force against handcuffed detainees.

 

[essentialsaltes]

This refers to the second case in California, not the one in the OP.

Family says Malcolm Harsch, Black man found hanging from tree, died by apparent suicide

Najee Ali, a community activist and spokesman for Harsch’s family, said in the statement that police showed the family “video evidence.”

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For the one in Palmdale, one detail I have seen reported is that

"What we noticed from the tree initially is ... it was very easily climbable. We also noticed that the rope was secured in the tree up above, it wasn't secured to a place on the ground ... someone had to be up in the tree to secure that rope,'' Wegener said.

I was thinking that lynching and suicide would involve different methods. Throwing a rope over a tree limb would work well for the former and not for the latter. Tying a rope to a tree limb works better for the latter than the former (at least if your victim is going to resist in a way that would leave evidence). The investigation is ongoing, but my needle has swung toward suicide on this one as well. I haven't really looked into the cases outside California.

Apropos of nothing, hanging/suffocation is also the second most common form of suicide.

 

[essentialsaltes]

A terrible thing, but I hope the initial determination of suicide holds up,

It has.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators have concluded that Robert Fuller, a Black man whose body was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last month, died by suicide, saying a thorough investigation found no signs of foul play and showed the 24-year-old had previously expressed suicidal behavior.

In January of 2017, Fuller was hospitalized in Arizona and diagnosed with auditory hallucinations after saying he wanted “to put a gun to his head,” Marks said. In February 2019, he checked himself into a hospital in California and reported hearing voices telling him to kill himself. And in November of that year he was hospitalized in Nevada after saying he planned to harm himself, Marks said.

In February, Fuller tried to light himself on fire, Las Vegas police told sheriff’s detectives.

On May 14, someone using an EBT card registered to Fuller purchased a red rope from a Dollar Tree — a rope consistent with the one found at the scene of Fuller’s death, Marks said.

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The family had its own autopsy conducted, but last I heard they were waiting on toxicology results. The family's lawyer says they will respond to this announcement tomorrow.