Official: Nooses, signs found on Mississippi Capitol grounds

JACKSON, Miss. – A Mississippi official says two nooses and six signs were found on the grounds of the Mississippi state capitol.

Chuck McIntosh, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, which oversees the Capitol, says the nooses and signs were found Monday morning shortly before 8 a.m. on the south side of the Capitol grounds.

He says the matter is under investigation, and he did not immediately know what was on the signs.

A local television station showed photos of the nooses hanging over tree limbs, and described the rest as “hate signs.”

Mississippi is preparing for a Tuesday Senate runoff between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy in a race that has increasingly taken on racial overtones.