this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2024
517 points (97.1% liked)

News

22876 readers
3946 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This reminds me of those people that commit suicide by shooting themselves in the head six times.

[–] SSJMarx@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And then setting the car they're sitting in on fire.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 2 points 3 days ago

And driving said car over a cliff.

[–] art@lemmy.world 39 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There are a concerning amount of not-a-lynchings in this country.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"Lynching-lite"? "I can't believe this is not a lynching"? "Lynching adjacent"?

What are we going with for the new term?

[–] aruraios@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

It's only a lynching if it's from Lynch, Kentucky

Otherwise it's just a sparkling hate crime

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 269 points 4 days ago (12 children)

"The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was not a knot in the rope, so therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County."

Umm, are you saying it wasn't a lynching on a technicality? Everyone in the south must be Olympic level mental gymnasts. In particular to say there's no evidence of foul play, at least.

This is like Russian dissidents falling out of windows or down stairs.

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 70 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The legal definitions can be far removed from normal usage: in California “lynching” is when a crowd forcibly removes a suspect from police custody, which historically was often a prelude to what we would recognize as actual lynching (presumably it was defined that way so participants could be charged even if they were stopped before harming the victim). But it’s been used in more recent times to charge protesters with “lynching” for interfering with the arrest of other protesters.

[–] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 24 points 4 days ago (3 children)

That is interesting that it has bespoke legal definitions. The Wikipedia entry is what I expected

Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an extreme form of informal group social control, and it is often conducted with the

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 9 points 4 days ago

Yes, legal definitions vary a lot by jurisdiction. "Assault and battery" is probably the most varied. Some places they're two separate things.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] jonne@infosec.pub 32 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I didn't realise lynching had to be done in a certain specific way.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 42 points 3 days ago

Yeah, otherwise it's just sparkling racism.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

otherwise is general racism, not specific enough for "lynching"

/s

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 47 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Brame told ABC11 that there were no signs of foul play in Magee's death.

Suicide and lynching can look similar. The officer said no signs of foul play first, then got a little too technical on the details of lynching as a response to speculation which probabky contained those details.

Yes, the response about specific details sounds ridiculous in a vacuum. But keep in mind that what he is saying is also a way to describe why a suicide isn't a lynching.

At least the police are reaching out to an external agency to hopefully provide some conformation on the circumstances.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I would love to see someone explain how you could commit suicide by having an untied rope around a tree.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

D E D I C A T I O N

Rope was wrapped around his neck, and wrapping rope around a rough or aoft object a few times can create enough friction to keep it from moving. So loop it around the neck a few times, and around the trunk a few times, and it will behave the same way as being tied on both ends with some tension if the loops are pressed against each other.

So from a standing position loop it around the tree a few times, the neck a few times, and then sag so the friction keeps it in place. My understanding is that people who die from autoerotic asphyxiation sometimes have the rope looped around their neck without tightening it thinking it will slip off if they pass out but end up hanging themselves instead because it doesn't slip off. Someone who is committing suicide could have the same end result if they left it untied just in case, but if it tightens and gets stuck they will still die from strangulation.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That all sounds like a huge leap to me.

I'm not gonna say it's not possible and honestly I'd like to see the tree it happened on but if you're gonna actually kill yourself with a rope a noose isn't hard to learn to tie.

I actually think it would be easier to learn to tie a noose than it would be to configure the rope in the way you described.

This reeks of foul play. Like it's practically dripping with it.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] andyburke@fedia.io 48 points 4 days ago (3 children)

He said Magee went to a nearby Walmart shortly before he died. That is where he is believed to have bought the rope found around his neck.

If this young man bought the rope himself, if there is evidence of this like surveillance video, that paints this situation in a pretty different light.

Edit: I want to be very clear that the police should be presenting any evidence they have of this. I would not take the police at their word. My comment here hinges on the report being true.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

It's not a real lynching unless you know how to tie a proper noose. That means 13 loops.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

very high chances they were interrupted trying to hang him or the body afterwards. sheriff is a tool.

[–] Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 days ago

He obviously hung himself from the tree with nothing to stand on and then untied the rope as a precaution. You know, in case any kids walked by.

[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Call it what you will, it’s a travesty and should be taken very seriously. But, this is the south, and most southerners love to mince words; especially when it comes to race and politics.

[–] RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 4 days ago

"Special strangulation operation"

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Roflmasterbigpimp@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Ah, yes, suicide. Like Epstein.

[–] arin@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

FBI needs to investigate the local sheriff office

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 75 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Given that the sheriff in question is black, and that he has requested investigations from outside parties, I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt until the investigations are complete.

[–] UnrepententProcrastinator@lemmy.ca 52 points 4 days ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] iheartneopets@lemm.ee 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Just like internalized misogyny is very much a thing in women, internalized racism is a thing, too. It's sort of like a poor person aligning themselves with the rich against their own interests, if that's easier for you to visualize. All that to say, I agree with the other commenter— that cop is blue.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

OK, like, MAYBE everyone should quit knee-jerking and claiming being experts off a headline, and maybe this guy is a grown-up who understands the situation more than you do?

I could be wrong. But the pitchfork mentality and outrage addiction is even worse on Lemmy than it was on Reddit, and that's really not a good thing.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 3 points 3 days ago

I'm not saying assume nothing is wrong. I'm just suggesting that it accomplishes nothing to jump to conclusions until all the evidence is available. Is that so unreasonable to you?

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Butbutbut... the internet demands instant answers to everything!

[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

I finished ace Attorney in a since day. How do they not know who did it yet?! Are they dumb?

/s

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 4 days ago

I would say this department is full of "bad apples." You might remember the kid being slammed a few years back. Even if the event was a suicide, the community will always wonder. They like to hid stuff and pay corrupt sheriffs.

https://archive.ph/y81I4

https://www.wral.com/story/sheriff-defends-vance-county-deputies-who-got-pay-raises-while-suspended-facing-criminal-charges/20253497/

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/video-shows-vance-co-deputy-slamming-dragging-middle-school-student-ground/SEDCS3WR7FHKDC2NGX4HA6T7MQ/

[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 38 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I can see why the sheriff doesn't want to rush to call it lynching when there isn't evidence of lynching specifically. BUT it appears to be a horrific and violent crime that surely should be their first priority. Sheriff's statement is downplaying the whole thing.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 22 points 4 days ago (1 children)

No defensive wounds, if the sheriff''s office isn't lying.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

Well, they themselves are bringing in the SBI and Attorney General's Office. If they're lying, they just fucked themselves hard for no reason.

It seems they're actually being extremely thorough.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 4 days ago (9 children)

There are 50,000 suicides a year in the US and only 22,000 murders, but y'all suspect it's more likely a guy with his feet on the ground, a rope not even tied, no defensive wounds, and a rope he bought himself, is a murder victim instead of the far outnumbering suicides.

[–] match@pawb.social 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

you thinking he choked himself to death with an untied rope?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Is it more racist to assume it was a lynching because he's black so therefore any death involving a rope -- an accident, happenstance, autoerotic asphyxiation, suicide -- must be a lynching, or to assume that it might not be a lynching because it would be stereotyping and objectifying black bodies to assume any death involving or related to a rope must be a lynching? 😬

I mean there is literally video of him buying the rope that he was found with from Walmart, buying smokes from a smoke shop, which were found next to his body, him driving to where his body was found, and not returning to his truck. There was no signs of assault or trauma. It would be pretty crazy if someone happened to stumble upon him near a tree with a rope and smokes and was able to then lynch him without him resisting.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This should be an interesting one for seeing who reads articles and who reads just headlines.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] finickydesert@lemmy.ml 15 points 4 days ago

I got a lot of negative comments I could make; I will not. The only comment I will make will be that I hope he has evidence it isn't.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 4 days ago (6 children)

People overblowing shit like wild.

He bought the rope, and pd will only say so much to the public. They'll tell the family.

From what has been revealed, there's two really obvious likelihoods. Suicide, and auto erotic asphyxiation. With the rope just being wrapped around his neck and him not up in the air, I'm leaning towards the latter. Bet he was thinking the rope would unwind if he blacked out, but it didn't.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Also possible that someone could have murdered him with his own rope, and left him in a way that looked like a suicide. Definitely something that needs time to investigate further.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 4 days ago

Ok. It's possible. But what's more likely? Suicide outpaces murder by 2.5 times, and suicide for truckers is even higher. Plus, how he was describes as being found sounds like auto erotic asphyxiation. Feet on ground, rope not tied.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

Obviously the investigation should be thorough to rule out alternatives, especially considering the history of such racist crimes, but it may legitimately be a suicide.

[–] Tja@programming.dev 5 points 4 days ago

It's only lynching if it's commited in the Lynch region of the deep south. Otherwise it's just sparkling hate crime.

load more comments
view more: next ›