Police investigating incident involving child given doll with noose at Mississippi Mardi Gras parade

HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. (AP/WXXV) — A 12-year-old-girl received a black doll with beads forming a noose around its neck at a Mississippi Gulf Coast Mardi Gras parade.

Officials said Monday police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Nicole Fairconeture of Pass Christian says she and her family were attending a parade Sunday when a man riding on one of the floats called her daughter to get a Mardi Gras throw.

Fairconeture says the doll was black and was dressed like a slave. She told The Sun Herald newspaper the man told her daughter: “That’s you.”

The upset mother found police and handed the doll to the officers. Her uncle later filed a police report.

Waveland Mayor Mike Smith says the incident is being reviewed as a hate crime.

On Monday, the Bay St. Louis Police Department released a statement saying they are working in conjunction with the Waveland Police Department to investigate the incident.

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