This site discusses deaths, including deaths ruled suicides. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, U.S.).

Method

How this record is kept

Each case is drafted from published reporting and official statements, then checked by a human reviewer before it appears here. An automated sweep looks for new cases and status changes every day, but it can only propose. Nothing it finds is published until a reviewer approves it.

What gets included

A Black person found dead by hanging in the U.S. since 2000, in a case covered by at least one established news outlet or named in a public official document. Cases enter at discovery, before any ruling, and stay in the record whatever the outcome.

Status definitions

  • Homicide, charged Ruled a homicide and someone has been charged.
  • Open No manner of death announced.
  • Ruled suicide, disputed Family has publicly rejected the finding.
  • Ruled suicide No public dispute from the family on record.

Editorial rules

  • Every field is tied to a cited source. No social-media-only claims.
  • No names of people who haven't been charged.
  • Unidentified people stay unidentified unless family or officials release a name.
  • No method detail beyond where the person was found.
  • Where sources disagree, both are shown and flagged.

Two kinds of record

Historical lynching records are determinations made by researchers and archives. Modern entries are contested deaths with an official finding and a status. Both will share one timeline as the archive grows, but they are labeled separately and never merged.

Photos

Many families have shared photos of their loved ones publicly to draw attention to their cases. We show those photos with a credit and a link to where the family shared them. If you're a family member and want a photo changed or removed, contact us at editor@foundhanging.org and we'll act on it first.

Who keeps this record

Andre Torres edits this record. He was editor-in-chief of Wax Poetics for 15 years. The daily sweep is run by an AI research agent that drafts proposals from published sources; every change is reviewed and approved by the editor before it appears. The record takes no position on how any person died beyond what officials, courts and families have said.

Corrections and family requests

If you're a family member, journalist or official with a correction, a source, or a request to change how someone is named, contact the editors at editor@foundhanging.org. Correction requests are reviewed before any other queue item.

Known gaps

The record covers 2000 to the present, but it isn't a census. It includes deaths that drew news coverage or official attention, and cases from the 2000s are underrepresented because less of that coverage is online. If you know of a case that's missing, contact the editors.