The Wynne School Board recently expelled two students who are alleged participants in a “noose” dragging incident, but the allegations of a 14-year-old African-American junior high football player are still sending shockwaves throughout the East Arkansas community. The child asserts that he was attacked by some of his white teammates and dragged across the floor in the locker room on September 24th at Wynne High School with a “noose” around his neck, and the contradictory interpretations of the incident are causing a racially charged atmosphere to lurk slightly off in the distance like an oncoming storm filled with the accusations and the denials of a very serious situation that some even described as a hate crime.

WREG News Channel 3 in Memphis interviewed a relative of Mickey, the 14-year-old victim. She said that “he was terrified [when] some boy came up behind him and picked him up, and that’s when another boy put a rope around his neck.” Mickey was then allegedly dragged about with a rope “noose” around his neck and (according to Mickey’s family) his neck was bruised.

On the other side, Wynne Superintendent Carl Easley admitted that something “inappropriate” happened in the boys’ locker room, but he has claimed that there was no “noose” involved, even though he has not said what the “inappropriate“ incident was. The Wynne Police Department interviewed students but has filed no charges; they have reportedly decided to leave it up to the Wynne School Board to handle the incident.