Noose, racial graffiti found in Chicago area

October 10, 2007 (WLS) -- There is anger and outrage at Columbia University in New York after a noose was found hanging on the door of a university professor. The civil rights protests in Jena, La., were sparked in part when three nooses were found in a tree. Since then, there have also been at least two reported incidents in the Chicago area.

The finishing touches are being put on the new Home Depot, set to open in South Elgin next month.

One addition to the store two weeks ago sparked fear in a construction worker. The African American man told Elgin's NAACP chapter that he came back from a break to find a noose hanging over his work station.

Although the man has not returned to the worksite since the September 29 incident, there was also a report of a racial slur spray-painted earlier this week inside the store.

"We don't like it in our town, and we don't like it anywhere, and we don't like to hear anyone being made to feel uncomfortable because of their race," said Cheif Chris Merritt, South Elgin Police.

Merritt said police want to talk to the man who is believed to be the target of the noose and also plan to interview workers who have been at the site the past couple of weeks.

]South Elgin is one of several places around the country where the noose has emerged as a sign of hatred and intimidation in the wake of the Jena 6 case in Louisiana.

The noose at Columbia sparked outrage by students who staged a protest on campus.

Some experts suspect the Jena furor reintroduced some bigots to the rope.

"People who use these forms of intimidation seem to think that they're being marginalized or they're not being heard, or it boils right down to a problem with race," said Charles Bethea, Dusable Museum.

"We all have been part of pranks," said Dr. Stephanie Davenport,, Dusable Museum. "The exploding balloon with water, that does not have the historical context to it, but a noose does."

In Lake County last month, Curtis Heitt, a student at Warren Township High School, was charged for disorderly conduct after investigators say he hung a noose from his truck and used racial slurs for two classmates.

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