‘Distress and outrage’ as third noose found in 3 years at Stanford University

A noose found hanging in a tree outside a Stanford University residence hall has caused “distress and outrage,” the private school’s president said.

“It is deeply disturbing that someone would choose to inflict this repugnant symbol on our community,” Marc Tessier-Lavigne wrote in a statement.

Someone reported the noose, found outside Branner Hall, an undergraduate residence, at 7:45 p.m. Sunday, May 8, the university said in an earlier statement.

University police removed the noose and are investigating the incident as a hate crime, the statement said.

“We cannot state strongly enough that a noose is a reprehensible symbol of anti-Black racism and violence that will not be tolerated on our campus,” the statement said.

Nooses and noose-like ropes were found at the campus in 2019 and 2021, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“We know this horrific discovery will shake our community and we have begun to develop an outreach plan to provide assistance to all who are in need, bearing in mind that this is not the first time this has occurred at Stanford in recent years,” the university said.

University police ask that anyone with information on the incident call 650-723-9633.

This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 10:19 AM with the headline "‘Distress and outrage’ as third noose found in 3 years at Stanford University."