A group of Congressional Democrats is demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the alarming number of Black Americans found hanging from trees in recent years across mostly the U.S. South, theGrio exclusively reports.
In a letter led by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the group of Democrats, largely from the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus, call on U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel to conduct thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigations into the numerous incidents of Black people found hanging.
“The series of deaths raises significant suspicion of foul play, given the role of lynching in our nation’s history,” reads the letter signed by nearly 60 Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). “Each of their deaths should be treated with the utmost seriousness and investigated without bias by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
The letter continued, “We know there is a long history of neglecting to prevent or investigate deaths of Black individuals. For decades, the DOJ and FBI ignored widespread lynchings, which motivated more killings. Inaction by the federal government is tantamount to complicity. This is part of the legacy of racial terror in the United States, and this neglect has long-term consequences.”
Congresswoman Pressley, who has introduced bills to restore President Joe Biden’s orders on diversity, equity, inclusion, and H.R. 40, which would create a commission to study U.S. slavery and create reparation proposals, told theGrio of the letter, “In this moment of anti-Blackness and emboldened white supremacy, we cannot stand idly by while the strange fruit of Black bodies hang from trees across the country.”
She added, “The federal government must conduct thorough and transparent investigations and get these families the answers and healing they deserve.”
In 2026 alone, there have been at least 10 reported hangings of Black people, several of which have been reported by theGrio. Those individuals include: Demetrius Eugene Fleming, 38, in North Carolina; Juliana Nzita, 16, in North Carolina; Tasia Fortune, 29, in Mississippi; Kyle Bassinga, 21, in Georgia; and Jerard “Jay” Jackson, 28, in Michigan.
In 2025, other high-profile cases included Delta State University freshman Demartravion “Trey” Reed, 21, found hanging from a tree near campus; Earl Smith, 58, found hanging from a tree at a downtown intersection in Albany, N.Y.; and Torrance “Tory” Medley, 39, found hanging from a tree in the affluent suburb of Brookfield, Wisconsin.
As the letter from Democrats notes, “The growing number of Black people found hanging in public is a national crisis.” It cites the Crimson Report, published by JULIAN, which found that there have been more than 70 modern-day lynchings in the United States between 2000 and 2025.
The letter notes that in 2022, Congress passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which President Biden signed into law. Named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was kidnapped and lynched in 1955 by a white mob in Mississippi, the law clearly defines a lynching beyond someone being hanged from a tree, but as a conspiracy to commit a hate crime that results in death or serious bodily injury. Democrats say it is “incumbent upon” the DOJ and FBI to use the law that has empowered them to “fully investigate suspicious deaths and hold individuals accountable.”
“At a minimum, each federal investigation, with permission of the decedents’ families, should include an independent autopsy, an audit of local and state law enforcement investigations, review of physical and testimonial evidence, and a final report submitted to Congress explaining the agency’s findings,” reads the letter. “Additionally, there must be robust data collection that tracks the hanging deaths of Black people in a transparent and systematic manner.”
The group of Democrats encouraged the DOJ and FBI to connect with their teams at “regular, scheduled intervals” to share updates, feedback, and “concerns from the broader community, as appropriate.”
