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Is Dangling a Noose a Threat?

A man in Louisiana has been charged with a hate crime under 18 U.S.C. 245 based on the following conduct:A white man accused of driving past a group of black civil rights activists with two nooses dangling from the back of his pickup truck has been indicted on federal hate-crime and conspiracy charges, federal prosecutors said Jan. 24.The issue, of course, is this: Is dangling a noose a threat of force?  KipEsquire doesn't think so:  I think, as a matter of reasonableness (not to mention the First Amendment), driving past a rally with two nooses on your truck simply does not rise to the level of using "force or threat of force." More is needed. If there had been a more proximate display (e.g., brandishing weapons or shouting unambiguous threats), then perhaps the incident could rise to prosecutable "force or threat of force...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on January 29, 2008 (boomark / email).