AOC’s ‘modern-day lynchings’ claim torn to shreds online as Black hanging case findings tell a different story

This story discusses suicide.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y., warned Friday of "racial terror" and "widespread modern-day lynchings" in the U.S. as she joined dozens of Democrats demanding that the DOJ and FBI investigate hanging deaths of Black Americans.

Multiple official findings in several recent cases show that law enforcement or medical examiners ruled the deaths suicides, while at least one very recent death remains under a homicide investigation .

AOC alleges there is systemic racial bias at the agencies, while fellow progressive lawmaker Rep.

Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., called the hangings a "national crisis" in a letter to the agencies that she spearheaded.

MS RACHEL SPEAKS OUT ON BLACK HANGING CASES AS RALEIGH DEATH IS DECLARED SUICIDE "This year, there have already been 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S.

I’ m proud to have signed onto Rep.

Pressley’s letter to address these widespread modern-day lynchings and put a stop to this racial terror," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X in support of the call.

Pressley warned in her letter that "Black folks are being found hanged in America" and insisted: "We cannot stand by while strange fruit hangs from trees across the country." The letter, addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel , was signed by Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez and about 50 Democrats.

They demanded a "thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigation into every hanging death of a Black individual across the United States," arguing that federal agencies have failed for decades to adequately investigate such deaths.

FAMILY IDENTIFIES YOUNG WOMAN FOUND FATALLY SHOT IN HOME OWNED BY REP AYANNA PRESSLEY'S HUSBAND One 2026 case involved the death of a 21-year-old Atlanta man who had gone missing.

He was later found hanging from a tree in a Cobb County park, where officials ruled out foul play and deemed the death a suicide, according to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate .