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After a student at Michigan State alerted police to a “noose” found outside of her form, a police investigation concluded that it was merely another student’s shoelace.
The unnamed student at Michigan State University caused campus police to conduct an investigation on Wednesday after reporting that she found a noose outside her dorm room, which ultimately turned out to be a shoelace that a neighboring student had misplaced.
MSU spokesman Jason Cody released a statement on the incident, saying that “the matching packaged shoelace was found outside of the residence hall” and that “MSU Police have determined the object was a packaged leather shoelace and not a noose.”
According to Cody, campus police tracked down and interviewed the student who lost the shoelaces, which were packaged in a way that someone could “perceive them to look similar to a noose.”
MSU
via Daily Mail:
During the investigation, MSU President Lou Ann Simon issued a strongly-worded statement saying she was ‘distressed’ to learn of the ‘racial incident’ and commended the student who made the original report for her courage.
“I want to be clear: This type of behavior is not tolerated on our campus,” Simon stated. “No Spartan should ever feel targeted based on their race, or other ways in which they identify. A noose is a symbol of intimidation and threat that has a horrendous history in America.”
After it was determined that the object at the center of the case was, in fact, a shoelace, the MSU spokesperson sought to defend the university’s initial response.
Back in 2011, a noose discovered on Michigan State’s campus, igniting protests against racism.
Early this year, a University of Maryland fraternity was suspended after a noose was found in the frat house’s basement.
