The county medical examiner labeled the preliminary cause of death as suicide pending a full autopsy. Robert Fuller, 24, was found hanging from a tree near Palmdale city hall in the early hours of 10 June. The FBI and the California attorney general’s office will monitor the investigation into the hanging death of a Black man in the south of the state, in one of two cases that have resurfaced fears of lynchings during a time of racial tensions and mistrust of law enforcement in the country.
Robert Fuller, 24, Found Hanging From a Tree Near City Hall in Palmdale, California, on June 10įuller’s death was initially ruled a suicide, but Fuller’s family, the local community, and the city of Palmdale are demanding more investigation. It’s likely that social media users mistook an older incident for a recent one, such as the death of Titi Gulley in 2019, or mistook a recent gun death for a hanging, such as the death of Rayshard Brooks.īelow are details about each case. We have been unable to find any reports about a fifth death that matches this rumor’s description. Furthermore, the man’s family reportedly told authorities that he had been suicidal. While social media posts initially identified this person as a Black man, authorities later identified him as Latino. The fourth death mentioned in this post is likely referring to an unidentified man who was found hanging in the Shady Acres neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Authorities have reserved stating the manner of death for Harsch, but they have said that they do not suspect foul play. Fuller and Alexander’s deaths were both initially ruled as suicides. These posts appear to be referring to the deaths of Robert Fuller, Malcolm Harsch, and Dominique Alexander, three Black men who were found hanging dead from trees in the spring in 2020. Though Fuller’s death made national news, social media users claimed that several similar incidents (of investigators declaring such deaths as “suicides”) had also occurred in the days since’s Floyd’s death on May 25: