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Man With Noose in Front Yard Gets 6 Months in Jail

Law Enforcement

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (AP) - A Virginia man will serve six months in jail for hanging a black-faced dummy in his front yard.

Media outlets report that 52-year-old Jack Eugene Turner of Rocky Mount was sentenced on Tuesday in Franklin County Circuit Court.

Turner was convicted in September of violating a state law that prohibits hanging a noose to intimidate. His next-door neighbors are black.

Turner was arrested again last week while free on bond after he put up a sign in front of his home. The sign used a racial slur to say the lives of black people don't matter and added "Got rope?"

A bond conditions was that Turner not post any further symbols or messages in his yard. His attorney, Holland Perdue, has declined to comment on the latest incident.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.