HATE HOAX: Allentown, PA school employee charged after planting noose on her own desk, reporting it to police

A Pennsylvania school employee has been charged after allegedly planting a noose on her own desk and then reporting it to law enforcement. Allentown police announced on Monday that LaTarsha Brown, a member of the Allentown School District Board of Directors, has been charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and false reports to law enforcement, both misdemeanors. 

Allentown Police Criminal Investigation Division LT. Stephen Milkovits said during a press conference that on January 10, 2025 at around 7:11 am, Brown arrived at her City Hall office. At around 7:38 am, Brown notified local police that she had discovered what she believed to be a noose on her desk when she came in that morning. 

Authorities launched an investigation to find the person responsible, during which video surveillance and building access control records were reviewed to identify who was on the third floor where Brown worked between the time Brown left her office the night prior and the morning she came into work on January 10.

Employees were identified and interviewed, and all agreed to provide DNA samples, "except for Ms. Brown," said Milkovits. "Initially cooperative, Ms. Brown later requested that the investigation be discontinued."

On January 14, the noose was submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab for DNA testing. 10 days later, a search warrant was approved by the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office for Brown’s DNA, a sample of which was obtained the same day.

Brown’s DNA was submitted to compare against DNA recovered from the noose. On March 10, Pennsylvania State Police’s Forensic DNA Division issued a report indicating that Brown’s DNA "matched the DNA profile obtained from the swabs of both the outer surface and inner knotted portion of the noose after it was taken apart," said Milkovits, who added that no other DNA gathered matched. In response, charges were filed against Brown.

In January, the Allentown School District celebrated Brown in a post on Instagram, calling her "deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion." In 2024, Brown was named a Social Justice Ambassador for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC).