Child’s ‘disturbing’ doll sparks hate crime investigation

Officials in Mississippi have launched a hate crime investigation after a 12-year-old received a “disturbing” doll during a festival. The incident took place at Krewe of Nereids parade, a Mardi Gras festival in Waveland, Miss., the Sun Herald reports. Nicole Fairconeture told the newspaper that her daughter received the doll from a man on a New Orleans Saints-themed float. “She grabbed the item, put it to her chest, and was coming back. [The man] called her back and when she turned around, he said, ‘That’s you’ ”. The toy, which Fairconeture said “was dressed like a slave,” also had a string of beads tied around its neck. Fairconeture said she believed the beads were meant to resemble a noose. Fairconeture quickly called over a police officer and one of her family members filed a report. Mike Smith, Waveland’s mayor, told the Sun Herald his town’s police department is working with officers to investigate the case as a hate crime. “When I saw that it had happened, it infuriated me. The Waveland Police Department will certainly do whatever it can to aid Bay St. Louis [police] in trying to get to the bottom of it.”