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Noose Found at African American History Museum Is Second Found on Museum Grounds in a Week

Here's what the Smithsonian said about the "repugnant" act.

On Wednesday, a section of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., was closed for an hour after a guest found a noose on the floor of one of the rooms, Smithsonian officials said.

Unfortunately, this is the second instance of a noose being found on the grounds of a Smithsonian museum. On Friday, a noose was discovered hanging on a tree outside the Hirshhorn Museum.

The rope found Wednesday was spotted by a tourist inside the Era of Segregation 1786-1968 gallery, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas told BuzzFeed News.

"It was rather a small rope thing and not something that would set off the magnetometers," Thomas told Buzzfeed. 

While police investigated the scene, park police closed the museum. 

  • NMAAHC founding director Lonnie Bunch issued a statement calling the act 'deplorable'

    In an email sent to Smithsonian staff, Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton spoke to how the institution will not be deterred by such a heinous act. 

    “The Smithsonian family stands together in condemning this act of hatred and intolerance, especially repugnant in a museum that affirms and celebrates the American values of inclusion and diversity,” Skorton wrote in an Institution-wide email. “We will not be intimated. Cowardly acts like these will not, for one moment, prevent us from the vital work we do.”

  • The noose discovery coincides with the apparent rise in hate crimes and bigotry that have occurred this year

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