Noose Found In Employee Breakroom

Austal Austal Usa Some workers at Austal USA in Mobile got an unwanted surprise Thursday morning. They walked into the break room and found a noose hanging from the ceiling.

by Kesshia Peyton

Published: Thu, May 01, 2008 - 4:39 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, May 01, 2008 - 4:42 pm CST

Some workers at Austal USA in Mobile got an unwanted surprise Thursday morning.
They walked into the break room and found a noose hanging from the ceiling.
Mobile Police were called to investigate, but a spokesperson told us it's hard to characterize this as a hate crime because all they found was the noose hanging from the rafters, but no letters or messages indicating a particular target.
An employee said he believes it was a prank that wasn't funny.
"I can say that it's a joke but it's not really a joke. Because there are a lot of people that really don't like that. Me, myself, I'm not affected by these things like that, maybe I should be, but i'm just not," said Austal USA employee Lenthelic Lewis.
The company's Vice President Bill Pfister released this statement -- he said:
"Our preliminary investigation has revealed the possibility of a personal agenda as the motivation behind this incident and does not reflect the culture that Austal has worked so hard to build."
Pfister also said this kind of behavior will not be tolerated -- and anyone who does this sort of thing will be fired.

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Razorsharp Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 10:41 pm

More white people were hung on a noose in the 16th, 17, and 18th centuries in Europe than you could possibly imagine. In the old west, they hung everyone regardless of what color your skin was. Just about every race has suffered a demise at the end of a rope….and some much worse. No race has a “monopoly” on it. For some reason the noose has become an infamous racial icon here in the U.S. I am not defending anyone’s ridiculous behavior, but show a little maturity and get over it. I use a noose knot to tie fishing knots, utility, and camping gear…and it was taught to me by a black man when I was a kid. If we are to ban the noose, then we may as well ban a plethora of day to day items because God only knows what Hitler used on the Jews…

rabidpooh Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 8:45 pm

Who hangs people anymore anyway? People hating on other people shoot them. Nooses are so 19th century. I don’t see how a noose is a hate crime. Yeah, one hanging around in a lunch room, means someone ain’t happy but a rope knows no colors. A rope knows no predjudice. A rope knows no intolerance. People are always looking for an excuse to play the race card. I’m so sick of it. If people would quit amplifying our differences and start working together towards making this a better place to raise our kids and grand kids, this would be a better world to live in.

seektruth Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 6:42 pm

This type of behavior only reflects the current and past situations going on at Austal. In March, “a group of 22 current and former black employees sued Austal USA, claiming that company managers participate in and condone widespread racial discrimination at its Mobile River shipyard.” My husband witnessed the discrimination and racial tension there first hand and he his a white man. He has since quit his job at Austal for this and other reasons. This act was absolutely racially charged.

Boondock Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 3:39 pm

It was probably planted. They are still trying to make a case and this would help propel that case. I hope they see this for it’s worth and find the real culprit.

informme411 Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 12:18 pm

IT WOULD SEEM THAT SOME OF YOU ARE IN DENIAL OF WHAT IS AND IS NOT A HATE CRIME. A NOOSE WAS USED AS A SYMBOL OF HATRED. A KNIFE OR GUN WAS NOT USED AGAINST A CERTIAN RACE OF PEOPLE. FOR THIS KIND OF THING TO BE FOUND HANGING ANYWHERE IS NOT FAIR. WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.

carl Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 6:24 am

I think you would have to know more about it before declaring it a hate crime. If it was meant to intimidate or cause fear I think it would be a hate crime,if it was just an ill conceived joke,then no. Either way at your place of employment is not the best idea in the world! It seems to me they made these hate crime laws real elastic so they could stretch them to fit what ever case they wanted. What ever happened to those two young men they were trying to charge for a hate crime by riding around with two nooses hanging from the back of their pickup? I don’t think I could ever find them guilty since it was on their own personal vehicle and peoples thoughts about hate crimes differ. To me it’s a hate crime when i can hear a radio blaring from a block a way,singing “kill the pigs,hoe get in my car “and worse and then do a slow stroll in front of the house. Yep, I’ve tried calling the police and they usually show up, 30 minutes later!

rabidpooh Says:

Fri, May 02, 2008 at 5:14 am

Hate crime…. so quick to judge. Why does it always have to be about race? Would it be a hate crime if a knife was found hanging from the celing? What about a gun on the counter. Or a bottle of arsenic next to the coffee pot? An employee did this to upset another employee. Done! Simple headline