Noose found inside African American History Museum in DC

WASHINGTON - A noose was found inside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesday.

The noose was located by a tourist at around 1 p.m. in the museum's segregation exhibition. The exhibition was shut down for about an hour before reopening.

“At one point while we were there, I saw a big ruckus with two security guards that were running through,” said Pamela Fitzpatrick, who was at the museum with her 12-year-old daughter.

U.S. Park Police removed the noose and are investigating the incident.

“I am concerned about this act of cowardice just as my director Lonnie Bunch is as he said in his statement,” said Kinshasha Holman-Conwill, the museum’s deputy director. “I’m also encouraged that already we are getting incredible support from our online community and from friends and colleagues who are showing solidarity with us in support of what the museum does.”

David Skorton, the secretary of the Smithsonian, said in part in an email to staff:

This comes after several recent noose-related incidents that have occurred around the D.C. region. Last Friday, a noose was found hanging from a tree outside of the Hirshhorn Museum, another museum part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Back in April, a noose was found inside a fraternity house at the University of Maryland.

A few days later, bananas hanging by string in the shape of nooses were found at three locations on the campus of American University in Washington D.C. The bananas were marked with the word "Harambe" and with the letters representing Alpha Kappa Alpha, a predominantly African American sorority. The hate crime incident happened on the same day the university's first black female government president took office.

Later in May, two men were arrested for placing a noose at a middle school in Crofton, Maryland. The two 19-year-olds were later charged with a hate crime.