A 66-year-old former Oriental Trading Company employee in Nebraska has been sentenced to four months in prison for leaving a twine noose on a floor scrubber.
The prosecution claimed that Bruce Quinn left the noose on the equipment, knowing it would be used by a black employee.
In September, Quinn pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation.
“Federal courts have long recognized the noose as one of the most vile symbols in American history,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a statement to ABC News. “Individuals, like this defendant, who use a noose to convey a threat of violence at a workplace will be held accountable for their actions.”
The family and friends of Keith Kirksey, the victim of the small twine noose, told local station WOWT that four months wasn’t enough.
“I thought it was rather light,” said friend Donald Robinson. “I also feel with the climate that’s been going on all across the world a greater message needs to be sent.”
The family claims that the incident put them through “traumatic stress.”
“It put my family through traumatic stress due to the fact that Keith is one of my younger brothers,” said the victim’s sister Jacqueline Y. Kirksey. “Living in the state of Nebraska I never thought I would have to experience something like my brother went through, due to the fact that it is now 2022. And it made me think of Willie Brown, Emmett Till. I thought we were beyond that however today proved that we’re not.”
Another friend said that they wanted a “greater message sent.”
“I thought it was rather light,” said friend Donald Robinson. “I also feel with the climate that’s been going on all across the world a greater message needs to be sent.”
According to the report, the judge told Quinn that “what you did quite frankly was to terrorize Mr. Kirksey.”
In addition to the four months in prison, Quinn will also have one year of supervised release.
Quinn had no prior criminal history.
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