Arrest Made After Artist Hangs Noose Display on City Tree

One noose hung from a tree in a Brooklyn neighborhood led to an arrest on Sunday. Aaron Mealy, 35, was charged with aggravated harassment by police in response to a Halloween display he created outside his home.

The installation sat on the sidewalk along Herkimer Street near Buffalo Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The tree on which the display hung was owned by the city. Mealy posted a paper sign on the tree that read, “Hey, still lynching n, -s in 2026,” and “Happy Halloween.” He also wrote, “This is art,” according to police records.

Mealy stated his intention was to evoke anger regarding the treatment of Black people in the United States. He told officers upon their arrival that he wanted people to know that lynching still occurs and that art is meant to evoke feelings. He did not care how people really felt, he added. The display included a mannequin or representation of a body hanging from the noose.

City law prohibits placing a noose on property without the owner’s consent because it is commonly exhibited as a symbol of racism and intimidation. Since the tree was city property, Mealy’s installation violated this rule. He was released without bail and referred inquiries to his Legal Aid attorney.

Neighbors called police after finding the display distasteful. One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said he approached Mealy to tell him, “Listen, you’re Black like me. Don’t do that.” The neighbor said the mock lynching had been hanging from the stairs of Mealy’s home for three weeks before being moved to the sidewalk tree. Another neighbor, Kenneth Jeter, 21, said Mealy could have toned it down by just posting the sign without the noose.

Legal Aid defended Mealy as a Black man making a political statement about systemic racism, police brutality, and mass incarceration. The agency called the act an expression rather than a hate crime and said it would vigorously defend his constitutional right to free speech. Mealy has a prior record; in 2023, he pleaded to misdemeanor weapons possession for a gun found in his home during a dispute involving his girlfriend, resulting in a conditional discharge.