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Students and faculty found nooses dangling from trees at two neighboring high schools in the Southland this week, and one of the schools had racial slurs graffitied on its walls.
According to the L.A. Times, the first noose was discovered at Mayfair High School in Lakewood on Wednesday. The next day, there was another noose found at Bellflower High School and there were racial slurs directed towards blacks spray-painted on walls around the school's theater. School officials quickly painted over the graffiti.
L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. officials are looking into whether the nooses and racial slurs are related. They are also investigating the Bellflower graffiti as a hate crime.
The two schools are less than three miles away from each other and are considered to be rivals. Since the schools played against each other in a football game last week, some people believe the incidents are related to the rivalry. However, some disagree: Bellflower Principal Michael Lundgren told KTLA that he doesn't believe that the students wrote the graffiti.
Jorge Flemate, a Bellflower student doesn't think it's a rivalry issue either. “It’s honestly disgusting," Flemate told CBS Los Angeles. "Honestly, there should be no tension. No hatred between anyone. It’s wrong."
Students at Mayfair High School staged a peaceful protest this morning.
