No, black NJ man’s hanging death wasn’t a lynching, officials say

A black New Jersey man whose hanging death prompted outrage online — with rumors and accusations of lynching spreading quickly through social media — had committed suicide, Georgia officials have reportedly determined.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the cause of 22-year-old Michael George Smith Jr.'s death was determined by the Fulton County Medical Examiner to be asphyxiation by hanging, and the manner of death was suicide. He'd been found hanging from a tree  at about 4 a.m. in Atlanta's Piedmont Park last Thursday.

The case was referred to the FBI, the AJC reports Mayor Kasim Reed announced last week.

“It’s a classic example of a lie getting around the world before the truth wakes up,” Reed said.

Online rumors suggested there'd been KKK sightings in the area of Smith's death. In the announcement Reed release last week, he said while this "disturbing event demands our full attention," authorities had no reason to beleive foul play was involved.

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