York Football Player Behind Nooses At School: Police

ELMHURST, IL — A York High School football player was the student who police identified as hanging two nooses outside the school, which authorities initially labeled as a possible hate crime, police said.

On Thursday, Patch obtained the police report, which detailed how detectives identified the student.

According to police, each noose had a message affixed to it, one reading, "Let them play!" and the other reading, "Here us now! Please!" A group of adults were playing soccer outside the school on Sunday, Jan. 18, when they found the nooses hanging on metal bleachers.

In their investigation, Elmhurst police detectives interviewed a football player who had spoken about the effects of keeping students from taking part in sports during the pandemic.

The student told police he was not responsible for the nooses, but he identified another football player who had placed the nooses at the school, the report said. He said the player said on Snapchat he would place the nooses there.

The detectives then went to the house of the other football player, meeting with him and his parents.

The student told police that he was aware of the incident, but did not know who did it. Asked whether he believed it was a hate crime or racism was involved, he said he did not think so.

As the interview continued, the parents told detectives that if they wanted to talk further with their son, they would need to consult with a lawyer first, the report said. The interview ended.

A few days later, on Jan. 23, attorney Mark Sutter told police that his client would not speak with them.

On Feb. 10, Sutter emailed the police, saying the purpose of the messages on the nooses was to create awareness of the pandemic's effects on keeping students out of school and sports, according to the police report. He said the noose was a symbol commonly used to portray suicide prevention and awareness. And Sutter denied the nooses were a hate crime or had any racial motivation.

A prosecutor in the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office said no felony charges would be filed because of the facts of the case, according to the police report.

On April 14, school officials told the police they did not want to pursue any criminal charges in the case and were satisfied with school consequences, which the police report did not detail.