On June 11, a Black man was found hanging dead from a tree in Albany, New York. While police have labeled it a suicide, locals and people identifying themselves as family members of the man are skeptical.
According to the Times Union, a call was made at around 8 a.m. last Wednesday, and officers found a body hanging from a tree on Westerlo Street. Videos circulated on social media showing the body, but were quickly taken down. When a Black man is hanging from a tree, the first thought is lynching, given America’s sordid history with the practice, but local police were quick to push back against that narrative
“At this time, based upon preliminary investigation, the circumstances appear to be consistent with suicide and no evidence to suggest that the incident is criminal in nature,” a statement from Albany police reads.
Locals have taken to social media and TikTok to express their disbelief at how little coverage the hanging has received in the local media. There’s been skepticism over it being a cut-and-dry suicide given how little information has been released about the incident. In fact, most reporting on the case has come from locals doing their own digging into what happened.
While police have not released the name of the man, social media posts and a GoFundMe page seem to point to the deceased being one Earl Smith.
There are few confirmed, concrete details about the case, and we don’t want to get into baseless speculation, but the lack of coverage and the alleged refusal to review camera footage is a bit suspect. Committing a crime in 2025 is somewhat foolish because there are cameras all over every city. I learned this during the Jonathan Majors trial when footage was released showing the assault and chase from several different camera angles throughout the city. It shouldn’t be hard to see exactly what led to this man’s death.
Looking at comments on TikTok’s show that several Albany residents have expressed disbelief that the story hasn’t received more coverage. “I work in Albany and live in the area and haven’t heard a single thing about this until now. How is nobody saying anything about it?,” wrote one commenter.
America loves to espouse how racism doesn’t exist anymore and that lynchings are a thing of the past, yet Sundown Towns still exist. Whether it’s literally hanging or alleged extrajudicial killings by the police, lynching hasn’t gone away. The attitudes that encourage this violence against Black people have only become more and more normalized. In fact, they run rampant within the current presidential administration.
From the ongoing attacks on DEI, Stephen Miller’s entire existence, to the Pentagon’s Chief Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson making several social media posts parroting the “Great Replacement theory,” the most dangerous and insidious ideas of white supremacy are currently influencing the laws and policy that govern the country. Hate groups have gone down in America because the ideas they espouse have gone mainstream.
In recent years, there have been several suspicious hangings of Black people that police label suicide, but have left family members questioning whether or not they were lynchings. Last year, Javion Magee was found hanging from a tree in North Carolina, and his deathwas labeled a suicide by police after video footage showed him buying a utility rope in a local Walmart. His family hired a private investigator and an independent medical examiner to see if their findings match the official police report.
In 2020, a video went viral showing four white men attempting to lynch Vauhxx Booker during a July 4 celebration in Lake Monroe. Charges would be filed against the men, as well as Booker himself. The charges against all involved were dropped in 2022 after Booker and the two white men also charged in the case went through a restorative justice process.
While we still don’t know for certain what exactly led to this man’s hanging in Albany, recent events have shown it’s more than understandable why residents and the alleged family members are questioning whether or not it was a lynching.
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