International Paper Investigating After Supposed Noose Found At Mill In Cantonment

June 23, 2020

International Paper is responding and has launched an investigation after a supposed noose was found at their Cantonment mill.

The rope was found hanging against a steel support on the property, and the company says they will not tolerate any racist or threatening acts.

“Upon learning of the situation, we immediately launched an investigation,” International Paper said in a statement released to NorthEscambia.com. “We condemn the offensive nature of this incident. Individuals involved in such behavior will not work at International Paper. We do not tolerate threatening acts, racism, or bigotry. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture where individuals feel valued and engaged and have the opportunity to contribute their best every day.”

Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

50 Responses to “International Paper Investigating After Supposed Noose Found At Mill In Cantonment”

  1. Adam Evans on June 26th, 2020 5:06 pm

    From Wikipedia– Lynching in the United States– Lynchings in the United States first became common in the Southern United States in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, at which time most of the victims were white men.

  2. Rasheed Jackson on June 26th, 2020 8:06 am

    @been woke
    Maybe you know more than the people at IP know, because they haven’t reported another rope. I am sure you and hate filled people would love nothing more than to find a rope somewhere which is why many of these so called racist acts have been staged to look like something they are not. The people I know at IP are good people and to try and shine a light of racism, and hate on the people who work there is wrong.
    It was not a noose so please just let it go.

  3. Jim Peckard on June 26th, 2020 6:26 am

    Bubba Wallace put the noose there

  4. Charlie on June 25th, 2020 8:37 pm

    @Been Woke—No mention anywhere of another rope or in your words “like a” noose being found at the paper mill. If you are talking about the NASCAR incident, that was decided as a door pull grab rope to pull the door down, even if someone fashioned it as a noose for whatever reason, & it was determined to be there since sometime last year, & was there only when previous “White” drivers had used that garage. Don’t try to make something racist that doesn’t exist. Just because nearly everyone has seen photos of what a real noose looks like, doesn’t mean we would know how to be able to make one. I don’t. Those who do know about ropes & knots, have already explained in detail, what it actually was, & its purpose, & it was NOT a noose.

  5. Been Woke on June 25th, 2020 6:27 pm

    Another rope was found. Which was like a NOOSE. So all these people questioning the motives know what’s really going on. And the crazy part about this is all those who says it’s not a noose, actually know how to make a noose. Which further explain the hate.. Hate from a far because this not like back in the day…

  6. Charlie on June 25th, 2020 2:04 pm

    Definitely not a “hanging” noose. No open loop on the end for putting around a neck! People going crazy trying to make everything racist. Nothing even close to racist here. As several have explained, it serves as a weighted end that serves the same purpose as a “monkey fist” knot. Monkey fist knot is not a racist term either. Both types of knots serve as a weight for throwing a rope over a branch, beam, or whatever, so it will fall more easily to be grabbed. Get a life people!

  7. Granny on June 25th, 2020 8:20 am

    Horse thieves, cowboys and etc were hung with a noose back in the days of the Wild West as well….

  8. Skittish on June 25th, 2020 4:21 am

    We can’t even tie our shoe laces, hair ties or fishing knots anymore without thinking we may launch an investigation, be accused of racism and lose our jobs. Y Have mercy on the poor soul who may have innocently tied that knot for a legitimately useful purpose at work.

  9. BRING IT ON on June 24th, 2020 7:51 pm

    42 years ago at the age of 18… I went off shore out of La. I learned real quick how to grow thick skin. As an apprentice I was called everything in the book. You couldn’t show weakness or better yet let the others know a weakness you had. It was a time when men were men and they didn’t whine about nothing. It’s a noose for God’s sakes. So what ! Nobody’s hurt …oh that’s right somebody’s feelings got hurt. I don’t know what is being raised out there but whatever it is, it ain’t men.

  10. Carlos E McGugin on June 24th, 2020 3:01 pm

    Jim Stanton, I think your post makes the most sense. I am a believer.

  11. JW on June 24th, 2020 2:58 pm

    “The National Memorial for Peace & Justice (check online) records 4400 lynchings of black people in the United States between 1877 and 1950″

    70 years ago…a majority of us were not even alive then….

    when someone looks for something to be racist, they will find it to be racist regardless of its true intent…

  12. Jim Stanton on June 24th, 2020 11:19 am

    I hope the management at International Paper didn’t spend thousands of dollars on a needless and useless investigation. The first time I saw the picture I knew it wasn’t a noose. When I worked in oil plants years ago we would always knot the end of a rope to throw over a beam to pull tools or other items to a upper level. We were told to hang the rope on a post or something so nobody would trip over it, and when you moved to another area if you forgot the rope, it was much easier to see from a distance hanging on something than laying on the floor mainly being a safety hazard.

  13. Lenny on June 24th, 2020 11:11 am

    IP Pensacola has a very diverse work force and I don’t see racism as an issue with the people I know that work out there, I have worked in the facility off and on for many years and have been treated with nothing but respect and dignity. The knot in question looks to me like a knot used to pull cable and not a noose as it has no loop. I don’t tolerate discrimination of any persons based on race, religion, sexual persuasion, as a great man said only judge people on the content of their heart and not the color of their skin. Please stop promoting the the racist agenda, I feel that most people are basically good and we are all in this together and should love our fellow man.
    Try and be a better person today than you were yesterday and we will continue to move forward as a civilized society.

  14. pencil on June 24th, 2020 11:08 am

    The National Memorial for Peace & Justice (check online) records 4400 lynchings of black people in the United States between 1877 and 1950. 75% of those lynched were black. 80% of lynchings occured in the south. Many of the whites were lynched for helping blacks. One of the worst happened in NW Florida, look up Claude Neal.

    That’s why this is an issue, it wasn’t created in a vacuum. No one woke up one day and decided to persecute conservatives. This is pushback from decades of it actually happening.

    Bubba Wallace did not manufacture a claim, he was told it was a noose by NASCAR.

    It might have been a clumsy attempt at a noose at the paper plant or it might be nothing at all but the burden of proof is finally shifting, prove it to be otherwise.

    Pencil for a more enlightened David.

  15. Matchbox on June 24th, 2020 10:28 am

    @McBean…well I would say that the threat is lost in translation seeing as it’s not on personal property it’s on a commercial property that employs thousands of people …now if I wanted to threaten someone i would probably make sure that the person I was theeating knew about the threat or it’s no good. Threats are used to induce fear and if you want to do that hanging it in the yard well it kinda loses its value.

  16. Joe smoe on June 24th, 2020 9:54 am

    I wonder if Bubba put that there?

  17. F. McBean on June 24th, 2020 9:31 am

    Perhaps doing the diligence of finding out who placed it or left it there would be a start. It should not be that difficult and definitely worth the inquiry. Understand that, if indeed a noose, it is a death threat and nothing short of it. If it is merely a rope left out with a knot that looks like a hangman’s knot but isn’t that would be different. I really wonder how many of you would take the risk if such symbolism was a possible risk to your family or loved ones. Wouldn’t you want to know if what you were receiving was a death threat if there was any possibility of it? Why do you take umbrage and become so defensive about wanting to find out?

  18. Rasheed Jackson on June 24th, 2020 8:49 am

    Most probably a heaving line knot. Most people can’t tie a monkey fist so they use the whipping knot on the end of a rope to give it weight so it can be thrown and carry the weight of the rope over what ever it is the person is trying to reach. the heavier rope the bigger the knot needs to be. The rope in the picture is old and frayed and looks to have been there for a while. People need to stop looking for something to complain about. if the person who took this picture was truly offended why not take it down and turn it in to personnel, and let the mill handle it. Sending a picture to the new media only incites trouble.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7B4S1cRhY

  19. Mr. Nobody on June 24th, 2020 8:49 am

    Where are the educated people? Hangings were a very common form of justice for years and not just in our country but all over the globe. Many many white people were hung as were any other race or gender that committed crimes that the punishment for was death. A noose is NOT a symbol of racism or hatred. If it is then so should every prison in America. Justice cares not about race or gender. If you break laws you get punished. Is the next racist thing we discuss going to be the laws of this nation? And just for the record that’s not a noose so please quit with the racist nonsense.

  20. Shaking My Head on June 24th, 2020 8:20 am

    So, do all of you really believe that someone intentionally hung a “noose” on a pole at a very large company that is riddled with cameras everywhere? Really?

    People have become offended by every single aspect of their lives. I pray for my grandchildren. They don’t deserve the future these people are trying to create out of ignorance.

  21. Anne on June 24th, 2020 7:19 am

    “Throw Rope” my daddy used to make these up so the rope wrapped around made that end heavy and used it to “Throw” over a tree limb to help guide the fall of a tree when cutting it down.
    Not a “noose” at all.
    Really gotta wonder when any sort of length of line, rope, whatever will be Banned because some idiot is afraid of it being fashioned into a noose.
    Cowboys use nooses all the time in roping contests and in daily life on the range.
    Not ALL ropes or nooses are made for the uses some folks fear.
    Dear Lord, PLEASE hear my Prayer for a Virus of COMMON SENSE to visit us all.

  22. Dave on June 24th, 2020 7:18 am

    Who cares,it was staged.lol

  23. sam on June 24th, 2020 7:08 am

    LOL! that in no way is a noose. the pc crowd are running amuck.

  24. KC on June 24th, 2020 6:14 am

    You’re right. At a quick glance it looked like a noose. But looking closer it is obviously not a noose. A noose has a coil and this rope has a coil, but just because this rope has a coil does not make it a noose. Someone was probably using the rope for a certain utilitarian purpose and didn’t even think about it looking like a noose. When word was spread that a “noose” was found at the work site, the person who made the knot probably got nervous and was afraid to say that was his rope. Everyone is jumping to the wrong conclusion. Look at the picture closer and see if there is actually a loop going through the inside of the coil. This knot could not hang anyone the way it is made.

  25. David Huie Green on June 24th, 2020 5:31 am

    REGARDING:
    “could be seen as someone shown inexperienced trying to reciprocate one”

    You probably meant “replicate” as in make a copy. Be if so, you are probably right.

    AND
    “Why would a garage door anything be on the side of a steel pole? Right? ”

    Two different stories. People are always getting things mixed up that way.

  26. David Huie Green on June 24th, 2020 5:16 am

    REGARDING:
    “Nooses wouldn’t be an issue if they weren’t part of southern intimidation tactics for 100+ years.”

    Southern?

    Read more widely. Lynching was not exclusively a Southern thing. For example, check Wikipedia for New York City draft riots. Not that many lynchings but definitely not Southern.

    “Late in the afternoon, a negro was dragged out of his house in West Twenty-seventh street, beaten down on the sidewalk, pounded in a horrible manner, and then hanged to a tree.”

    — Buffalo Morning Express, 1863

    Or New Orleans Apologizes for 1891 Lynching of Italian-Americans, the largest single lynching in America.

    NAACP history of lynching shows most were of blacks but that it wasn’t exclusive. It even mentioned “Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin were some states that did not lynch any blacks to record.” although they lynched other people. It wasn’t for terror but to punish perceived crimes.

    It is better to point at the sins of others than to acknowledge our own.

    David for better people

  27. Aokay Boomer on June 24th, 2020 4:42 am

    Fake noose!

  28. Matchbox on June 24th, 2020 1:09 am

    I think someone may need to take a closer look…that is not a noose…

  29. pencil on June 23rd, 2020 11:02 pm

    Nooses wouldn’t be an issue if they weren’t part of southern intimidation tactics for 100+ years.

    People are talking about it now because they aren’t terrified of speaking out anymore.

    Yet the people who do these things are so steeped and comfortable in their ignorance any step towards equality seems like its unfair to them.

  30. mike on June 23rd, 2020 10:20 pm

    R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S its just a rope.

  31. Bob on June 23rd, 2020 9:28 pm

    That’s not a noose any one who knows anything about rope can easily see that’s not a noose I can tie a noose not that I would I’m not racist but that’s no noose

  32. Stephen Gundelfinger on June 23rd, 2020 9:03 pm

    That’s a quick release knot, not a noose.

  33. Rick on June 23rd, 2020 8:55 pm

    Be in denial all you want. Those out there know what it is. Most people out there are generational and the hate runs deep. Same way people says it’s not a noose; could be seen as someone shown inexperienced trying to reciprocate one.

  34. Wrenchman on June 23rd, 2020 8:31 pm

    I’m not hear to debate or fight, but zooming in to the picture it doesn’t even look like a noose. Just the way it is laying makes look like one…..

  35. Mickey on June 23rd, 2020 8:31 pm

    When I was little I used to make nooses like this for fishing hooks. It’s a common not after all.
    I understand there are folks who see racism everywhere, in the fact that White House is called White etc. I show them any picture, they will find racism in it. Now, they feel offended.
    Well, I feel offended too, I feel offended that white males are portrayed by them as the essence of all evil. I did not chose my race and sex, and they say I’m bad and privileged and all that that just because of my gender and color of my skin. If this is not racist, what is?
    Installing racial quotas that discriminate against Asians and whites at universities is racists.
    Talking about the noose. I feel offended by the folks that see it as a racists symbol. Just as they do towards me I want them to shut up. This is a milder version of their demands. I do not demand the schools to purge teachers who think different than me. They do. The modern racists do. Isn’t it time to shut them up as they are trying to shut up everybody who is not in line with their agenda?

  36. NPC on June 23rd, 2020 8:14 pm

    Kneeling for prayer is considered offensive but kneeling for the national anthem is praised. You cannot be refused a job based on race but you can get promoted. If you group a race into a category, for the actions of some it is racist but if you judge a profession by the actions of a few it is hate. One may see it as a noose meant to be racist while the other sees it as a rodent trap. Who is right?

  37. Lou on June 23rd, 2020 8:03 pm

    Doesn’t look like a noose to me either….some see what they want to!

  38. ANNA BRYSON on June 23rd, 2020 7:42 pm

    Why would a garage door anything be on the side of a steel pole? Right? We are in Escambia County.

  39. Carlos E McGugin on June 23rd, 2020 7:14 pm

    Looks like a very sloppy noose. Fact is, I don’t think it is a noose.

  40. Henry Coe on June 23rd, 2020 7:03 pm

    Mechanically speaking, that doesn’t look like a noose. It looks like someone coiled the end of the rope to either take up a loose end or they made the coil for a weight so they could throw the rope over something.

  41. stop the madness on June 23rd, 2020 6:53 pm

    This will likely end up just like the “noose” in the nascrap garage that turned out to have been there for nearly two years and wasn’t a sign of ANYTHING. Stop this stupidity before we end up in a never ending hole that the country can’t climb out of.

  42. WOW. on June 23rd, 2020 6:51 pm

    Are you serious @Really??? “It’s just a rope.” No matter if whoever did this was joking @Well, or not, this THUG who did it needs to be put behind bars. It’s obviously a message/threat, and they want to be heard. With everything going on I can’t believe some people are still oblivious to the racist things going on or have happened. Ouu and if have that mindset of “tHEy ShOUlD JuST GeT OvER iT”, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM SAWEETIE!

  43. Hoosier Daddy on June 23rd, 2020 6:32 pm

    @ Debbie, The FBI, after a thorough investigation, has determined the noose is a garage door pull. No crime, no fault, just panic in the masses.

  44. Well on June 23rd, 2020 5:56 pm

    I think its all a hoax to get people riled up. Probably some young dumb late teens early 20s idiots who thought lets see what we can get started up as they sit back and laugh. Do not let the jokes few drive everyone apart.

  45. Tabby on June 23rd, 2020 5:40 pm

    @Debbie–Thats the point. People (the people not indoctrinated by the Liberal machine) are tired of the Fantasyland some are trying to make “the rest of us” live in. Sorry, I just don’t feel a certain group of people should be forced to live in a manner they don’t wish upon themselves at the behest of another group. Especially for no good reason.
    Hope you can read between the lines.

  46. CW on June 23rd, 2020 5:36 pm

    Hard to tell these days what’s real and what isn’t. Is this another Jussie Smollett situation?

  47. Debbie on June 23rd, 2020 5:27 pm

    WHY ???
    Isn’t there enough unrest right now , why would anyone think this is the thing they should do . Why would they want to try and make more trouble . Did they see what was going on at Nascar and thought that was a good idea to do also . I don’t know about all of you guys but I’m ready for things to calm down . In my opinion who ever did that is just showing their stupidity and doesn’t care what kind of trouble they can draw to our small quite community. I for one don’t want trouble here !

  48. John Doe on June 23rd, 2020 5:10 pm

    Really, Really? You *really* think that the noose is coincidental?

    Please.

  49. Really on June 23rd, 2020 4:36 pm

    Please people, not everything is racist. It’s just a rope .

  50. David Huie Green on June 23rd, 2020 4:32 pm

    Folks used to enjoy making nooses. (Not me, of course; I could barely tie my shoes.)

    Those they hanged in the Westerns were always white, so the noose-makers I knew of didn’t see it as the racist threat others did or have come to. I remember hearing about management telling workers at the paper mill to cut it out because it offended those who saw it in a different light.

    It takes a while to realize all the things anyone else might feel sensitive about — and to be honest, if you wished to harm anyone with a rope, all kinds of methods would be just as deadly and easier to make.

    David for better, more sensitive people.