A student at Michigan State University sparked a campus police investigation on Wednesday after reporting a noose outside her dorm room, which ultimately turned out to be a shoelace that her neighbor had misplaced.
‘After investigating, MSU Police have determined the object was a packaged leather shoelace and not a noose,’ MSU spokesman Jason Cody wrote in a press release, titled, ‘Statement on Racial Incident in Residence Hall.’ ‘The matching packaged shoelace was found outside of the residence hall.’
According to the school official, MSU police tracked down and interviewed the student who lost the both of the shoelaces, which were packaged ‘in a way that someone could perceive them to look similar to a noose.’
A student at Michigan State University sparked an investigation on Wednesday after reporting a noose outside her dorm room, which ultimately turned out to be a harmless shoelace
The leather shoelace packaged in a way resembling a noose was found by a female student living in Holden Hall after her neighbor had misplaced it
The owner of the mislaid footwear accessories lives on the same floor in Holden Hall as the female student who made the report.
Cody stressed that the shoelace found in the hallway ‘was not directed at any individual.’
The item was initially spotted on the hallway floor and later on a stairwell door handle, where police believe someone placed it after picking it up from the floor.
During the investigation, MSU President Lou Ann Simon issued a strongly-worded statement saying she was ‘distressed’ to learn of the ‘racial incident’ and commended the student who made the original report for her courage.
During the investigation, MSU President Lou Anna Simon released a statement praising the student who reported the ‘racial incident’ for her ‘courage’
‘I want to be clear: This type of behavior is not tolerated on our campus,’ Simon stated. ‘No Spartan should ever feel targeted based on their race, or other ways in which they identify. A noose is a symbol of intimidation and threat that has a horrendous history in America.’
After it was determined that the object at the center of the case was, in fact, a shoelace, the MSU spokesperson sought to defend the university’s initial response.
‘As we did in this case, the university takes any reported racial incident very seriously,’ Cody wrote. We feel it is important to quickly communicate what we know to the campus community and provide updates as necessary. MSU continues to provide support to the students involved.’
In 2011, a noose discovered on the MSU campus ignited protests against racism, according to the news outlet WKAR.