US black man found hanging from tree

Police have found an African-American man hanging from a tree in Claiborne County, Mississippi, according to a statement from the FBI.

Otis James Byrd, 54, had been missing for three weeks until law enforcement officers found him hanging in the woods near his home during a ground search on Thursday.

Byrd was last seen on March 2 after a friend dropped him off at Vicksburg’s Riverwalk Casino, about 30 miles north of the place where his body was found.

“After several days of missing, (he) was found hanged to death,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stated in an email sent to the Department of Justice. They called on federal government to “join the current investigation of the suspicious hanging death of Mr. Otis Byrd.”

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division along with the US Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi are currently conducting an investigation into Byrd’s death and the FBI is carrying out a preliminary inquiry as well.

Police have not yet confirmed whether the victim was murdered or committed a suicide, but officials said the man’s hands were not tied behind his back when he was found.

“The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI [Mississippi Bureau of Investigation] and FBI for forensic and investigative assistance,” the FBI said. “Investigators are currently processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death​.”