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WASHINGTON: A Black college student was found dead hanging from a tree on a university campus in Mississippi this week, prompting calls from civil rights advocates for a thorough investigation, as authorities say there was no evidence of foul play.
Demartravion “Trey” Reed, 21, was found dead early on Monday near the pickleball courts on Delta State University’s campus in Cleveland, Mississippi, according to campus police.
Campus police chief Michael Peeler called the death an “isolated incident” and said there was no active threat to students or faculty.
The university said multiple law enforcement agencies were assisting in the probe into the death. The FBI said in a statement that it was prepared to investigate, “if, during the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation.”
The local coroner’s office said there was no evidence to suggest that Reed was physically attacked or assaulted before his death and that further information would be shared “once the autopsy results are finalized.”
Reed’s body was sent to the Mississippi State Crime Lab for an official autopsy report.
While investigators have said they found no evidence of foul play, Reed’s death prompted calls for transparency among advocates, who noted Mississippi’s history of lynching and racially motivated violence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Mississippi Democratic US Representative Bennie Thompson called for a federal probe into Reed’s death.
“We must leave no stone unturned in the search for answers. While the details of this case are still emerging, we cannot ignore Mississippi’s painful history of lynching and racial violence against African Americans,” the lawmaker said in a statement.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has handled some of the highest profile police killings of Black Americans, has been retained by Reed’s family. Crump said on X the family “cannot accept vague conclusions when so many questions remain.”
“I stand with this family, and I will lead a team of civil rights leaders and organizations in pursuing transparency and answers for Trey’s family,” Crump said. The family is seeking an independent autopsy.
Delta State University’s enrollment last year stood at over 2,600 students, more than 40 percent of whom were Black.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said early Thursday that he plans to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”
Antifa, short for short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups and is not a singular entity. They consist of groups that resist fascists and neo-Nazis, especially at demonstrations.
It’s unclear how the administration would label what is effectively a decentralized movement as a terrorist organization, and the White House on Wednesday did not immediately offer more details.
Trump, who is on a state visit to the United Kingdom, made the announcement in a social media post shortly before 1:30 a.m. Thursday local time. He called antifa a “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.” He also said he will be “strongly recommending” that funders of antifa be investigated.
Antifa is a domestic entity and, as such, is not a candidate for inclusion on the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations. Dozens of groups, including extremist organizations like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, are included on that list. The designation matters in part because it enables the Justice Department to prosecute those who give material support to entities on that list even if that support does not result in violence.
There is no domestic equivalent to that list in part because of broad First Amendment protections enjoyed by organizations operating within the United States. And despite periodic calls, particularly after mass shootings by white supremacists, to establish a domestic terrorism law, no singular statute now exists.
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he would pursue a domestic terrorism designation for antifa if such a move had the support of Attorney General Pam Bondi and others in his Cabinet.
“It’s something I would do, yeah,” Trump said. ”I would do that 100 percent. Antifa is terrible.”
Wednesday night, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, praised Trump’s announcement, saying: “Antifa seized upon a movement of legitimate grievances to promote violence and anarchy, working against justice for all. The President is right to recognize the destructive role of Antifa by designating them domestic terrorists.” In July 2019, Cassidy and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution in the Senate to condemn the violent acts of antifa and to designate the group a domestic terror organization.
In 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, Trump also raised the idea of designating antifa as a terror organization.
Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in testimony that year that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.