Student charged with hanging nooses from tree at Evanston's Haven Middle School
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS)-- A month after three nooses were found hanging from a tree at Haven Middle School in Evanston, a student has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office declined to add a hate crime charge. They say the boy's actions and motive did not meet the legal and statutory elements of a hate crime.
In May, police said three nooses were hung outside Haven, 2417 Prairie Ave., and also Kingsley Elementary School. 2300 Green Bay Rd.
Parents expressed concerns about that incident at a meeting last month.
"As a parent - as a Black mom in this district - I'm very, very disappointed," Shaunique Shelton said at the meeting on May 23.
In another incident at Nichols Middle School, 800 Greenleaf St., swastikas and hateful, racist messages were found scrawled in school bathrooms.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss released this statement earlier this month: "We take these incidents extremely seriously and an investigation is ongoing. Regardless of what it reveals, though, it is disheartening to see these symbols in our community and unacceptable for our children to be exposed to these hateful messages at school."
