The body of a Black student was found hanging from a tree at Delta State University early Monday, prompting horror on the Cleveland, Mississippi, campus.

According to the university’s chief of police, the body of 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed was discovered on Monday at approximately 7:05 a.m. local time.

“University Police was notified of what appeared to be the body of a Black male hanging from a tree (at) central campus near the DSU pickleball course,” said Delta State University Chief of Police Michael Peeler, who said the body was later identified as Reed, who is from Grenada, Mississippi.

“Our community is deeply saddened by this loss, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to families and friends and all those who were impacted by Trey’s loss,” said Delta State University President Daniel J. Ennis, reports MPB. “I’ve spoken to Trey’s family and expressed our heartbreak.”

Reed’s death has ignited shockwaves on the campus of Delta State, a public university with a 52% majority white campus and a Black population of 36%.

Despite online comments describing the death as a lynching–harking back to the U.S. South’s well-documented history of lynching Black Americans–police chief Peeler said the circumstances behind Reed’s hanging are still under investigation. The investigation is conducted by the Cleveland Police Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, and the Bolivar County Sheriff’s Office.

“As of this time, there’s no evidence of foul play,” Peeler said. “While there’s no evidence of foul play, the body has been retrieved by the Bolivar County Coroner’s Office.”

According to the Mississippi Free Press, Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Murray Roark, who assisted a medical examination of Reed’s body, said there was no evidence of broken arms or legs.

“I don’t think I should probably discuss this any further than that. My opinion is that it was self-done, and I have reasons for that,” said Roark, despite the death still being an active investigation.

A video of the horrific scene was apparently circulating online, prompting a Facebook account belonging to a woman named LaShay Reed, presumably a relative of Trey Reed, to take to the social media account to speak on behalf of the family.

“On be half of respect for our Family please please!! don’t do no Post no videos or anything… Just keep us In yall Prayers REED Family / Tillman Family,” the woman posted along with a photo of Trey Reed and family members.

“What done in Dark will come in Light,” she wrote in another post.

As a result of Reed’s death, classes and campus activities have been canceled. However, the campus did not go into full lockdown.

President Ennis stressed that the campus was “safe,” telling reporters, “Delta State University is a beautiful place to be. It’s just unfortunate, this loss that comes heavy to our campus.”

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[–] 91 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

“I don’t think I should probably discuss this any further than that."

Okay cool

"My opinion is that it was self-done, and I have reasons for that,” said Roark, despite the death still being an active investigation."

You could have just stopped.

(Also not to be an ass but you forgot the "b" in "Black" in the title.)

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  • [–] 82 points 1 year ago

    “As of this time, there’s no evidence of foul play,” Peeler said.

    monke-ruserious

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  • [–] 80 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    America deserves all the hate it gets and then some

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  • [–] 71 points 1 year ago

    Lynchings never stopped

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  • [–] 66 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Are they actually saying this lynching is also a suicide?

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  • [–] 62 points 1 year ago

    "hey guys, just assume it's a suicide until we can find a way to cover this up, thanks"

    Vs.

    "What trans seductress could have corrupted this poor innocent whiteboy into doing this? We should crack down on trans groups while we investigate since it can't hurt"

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  • [+] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
    [–] 51 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Here's to the state of Mississippi

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  • [–] 43 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    lol? wtf did i do? i just clicked the link

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  • [–] 45 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    A lot of American based local news websites apply geofencing rules to block IPs from outside the country. Not sure if it's for their own protection or if it's just because the site doesn't want to bother implementing GDPR

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  • [+] 41 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
    [–] 37 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    According to the Mississippi Free Press, Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Murray Roark, who assisted a medical examination of Reed’s body, said there was no evidence of broken arms or legs.

    What the fuck do broken arms or legs have to do with determining it wasn't a lynching?

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  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Evidence of a struggle. To prove that it's a lynching and not a suicide, you'd look to see if there's any injuries outside of the hanging.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Obviously broken limbs would generally be sufficient evidence to prove the point, but it is not remotely necessary evidence.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I think we're staying the same thing in different ways. All broken limbs infer lynchings, not all lynchings infer broken bones.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    Agreed, but that's why I think it's really weird of the coroner to single out "well, none of their limbs were broken" like that really helps to answer the question. There are so many other injuries they could have that would clearly establish it, and also they don't even need to have other injuries to have been lynched!

    It's like if there was an attack on someone who is currently missing, and the forensics guy says "Well, we didn't find disemboweled intestines at the scene of the assault. I can't say anything else, but I think the victim is still alive and I have reasons for believing that." Like, it's not even a particularly likely thing to find even in the case of it being a murder. It seriously sounds like the coroner is being deliberately misleading. Were there bruises? Cuts or scrapes? What did the ligature marks indicate? There are so many much more obvious questions to ask about than if the victim has broken bones.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Probably pretty quick to ID a broken limb than it would be to ID other signs of struggle, as a guess.

    Also, police and university officials are absolutely going to need to do some type of PR damage control, right?

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  • [–] 34 points 1 year ago
    [–] 30 points 1 year ago

    Oh and look, here comes the entire species to celebrate this death as if they weren’t lecturing the left on how that’s wrong.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    What the hell. Hopefully whoever did this is caught. Hanging yourself in public just sounds so fake.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago*

    Sounds a whole lot like this story from earlier this year: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/albany-police-release-statement-man-found-hanging-20390210.php

    Cops declared it a suicide. People in the area were not convinced.

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