Connecticut Governor Rell: Chief State’s Attorney, DPS, U.S. Attorney to Work on Noose Incidents

By newsdesk - Posted on December 5th, 2007

December 4, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she has contacted the offices of the Chief State’s Attorney, the Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut to condemn a rash of recent incidents involving nooses and offer her Administration’s assistance in investigating and prosecuting the cases.

“These incidents are repugnant and will not be tolerated,” Governor Rell said. “The state will lend whatever support it can to arresting and punishing the individuals responsible for these despicable acts. We will not allow a tiny number of wrongheaded people to intimidate or harass others as a result of ignorance and prejudice.

“No one in Connecticut should have to live in fear or feel threatened on the job because of their race – or any other characteristic,” the Governor said. “I know state and local officials are taking them very seriously and U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor has assured me he will be meeting this week with leaders of the NAACP and other organizations to assure them of his office’s efforts as well. Racism in any form is simply unacceptable – it must be rooted out and stopped.”

Two nooses were recently discovered by Turner Construction Co. workers at the Blue Back Square development in West Hartford; police believe those incidents may be connected to the discovery of nine nooses found at a Turner construction site in Stamford. Police believe an employee of a subcontractor may have been the target of the nooses, which are often perceived as a reference to racially motivated lynchings during the late 19th and first half of the 20th century.

A third West Hartford noose was discovered at a Home Depot store on New Park Avenue. Earlier this year, a noose was left near the belongings of a cadet at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London; a second noose was discovered by the white female officer sent to the Academy to conduct race relations training in the wake of the first incident. In November, a Bridgeport police officer found a noose under his cruiser.

Source: Connecticut Governor

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