Dead man found hanging from tree in Los Angeles

The tree where the man was found was along a sidewalk near the roadside.

By daylight, homicide investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department were on the scene and had cordoned off the area with police tape and a large white tarp that concealed the body from any onlookers.

Officials could not immediately say whether the man’s death had been caused by homicide or suicide.

Police were expected to give a briefing later Thursday.

The case recalls a rash of hangings across the nation last year in which at least five Black and Hispanic Americans were found dead in three states as racial tensions festered in the weeks after George Floyd’s death.

The sudden spate of hangings, coupled with countless noose sightings around the country, fueled fear and suspicions about the possibility of lynchings, but officials ruled every case a suicide.

In one high-profile case last summer, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department concluded that Robert Fuller, one of two Black men found dead hanging from trees in Southern California, had committed suicide.

Fuller, 24, was found hanging at a park near Palmdale City Hall on June 10, 2020. A more thorough investigation was ordered after family members expressed outrage because authorities had quickly determined the cause of death, but no foul play was found.

Just 10 days before, and 53 miles from where Fuller was found, authorities discovered the body of 38-year-old Malcolm Harsch hanging from a tree in Victorville on May 31.

The deaths of Fuller and Harsch at first seemed suspicious given their proximity, but it was later determined that Harsch “did take his own life” after the Victorville Police Department released new video evidence to family members.