The death of a 21-year-old Black student whose body was found hanging from a tree on a university campus in Mississippi has sparked outrage and allegations online, even after officials said there was no evidence of foul play.
Police were notified Monday morning about the body found near the pickleball courts at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, university police Chief Michael Peeler said at a news conference later that day.
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He said the body was identified as that of Demartravion “Trey” Reed.
Although Peeler said there was no evidence of foul play or of a threat to the school community, classes were canceled Monday at the 2,700-student campus.
Yet, that has not prevented people from calling for justice for Reed on social media and circulating unsubstantiated allegations regarding his death.
The NAACP on Tuesday expressed skepticism of the possibility Reed committed suicide in such a manner.
“You’d have to excuse our skepticism amidst growing racially motivated violence targeted at our communities across this nation,” the country’s oldest civil rights group said Tuesday on Instagram in a post with a picture that read, “A man was lynched yesterday.”
“So while we await more formal autopsy reports and information, we offer this piece of history with a level of certainty: Our people have not historically hung ourselves from trees,” the post caption read.
Noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Tuesday that he has been retained by Reed’s family and will lead a team of civil rights organizations in a “transparent investigation” of Reed’s death independent of law enforcement and the local medical examiner.
“Trey Reed was a young man full of promise and warmth, deeply loved and respected by all who knew him,” Crump said in a statement. “We cannot accept vague conclusions when so many questions remain. ... I will lead a team of civil rights leaders and organizations in pursuing transparency and answers.”
The Bolivar County Coroner’s Office said Monday that it was conducting a thorough investigation into Reed’s death and denied rumors being shared online that his body had been found with multiple injuries indicative of a potential assault.
This story was published by NBC News. Click here to read the entire article.