The town where Robert Fuller was found dead has a history of racism that has fueled speculation over his death

• Robert Fuller was found hanged in Palmdale, California, on June 10, and officials quickly ruled his death a suicide.
• After protests from city residents, Palmdale opened an investigation into 24-year-old Fuller's death.
• A long history of racism in Palmdale and the surrounding Antelope Valley fueled speculations that Fuller was murdered.

The day Robert Fuller died, his body was found hanging from a tree outside City Hall in Palmdale, California.

Officials were quick to rule the 24-year-old's June 10 death a suicide, but many Palmdale residents, including Fuller's family, wanted answers.

His death, which happened just weeks after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked protests in the Palmdale, and led state officials and the FBI to join investigations into the incident.

Many in the city don't believe Fuller died by suicide, and friends and family have said he wasn't suicidal.

Meanwhile, a long history of racism in Palmdale and the surrounding Antelope Valley fueled speculations that Fuller was murdered.

Palmdale is a city of 155,079 people northeast of Los Angeles. According to US census data, 41.6% of residents are white, while 12.5% are Black. Hispanic and Latino communities represent 60.2% of the population.

Jamon R. Hicks, an attorney for Fuller's family, told the Los Angeles Times that he was alarmed that Fuller's death wasn't initially investigated as a homicide. The medical examiner's office had ruled the death a suicide, telling reporters there was a "lack of any evidence" of foul play. There was no item at the scene that Fuller could have used to climb upon before dying.

"Our first thought brings us back to a dark time in history where we see public lynchings to send a message," he said.

He told The LA Times that the city has a history of "racial tension and conflict" — and news stories from recent years reflect that tension. According to reports from the LA Times and other local media reports, as well as the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a number of racial issues have emerged in the last 15 or so years.

In 2007, Ku Klux Klan fliers depicting black activists hanging from a tree were found by a Palmdale high school

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Ku Klux Klan fliers showing Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton hanging from a tree were found near Palmdale's Knight High School in October 2007.

"Nappy headed pimps don't come to Antelope Valley," the flier said, signed by "KKK."

The incident happened after a dispute between students and a security guard at the school over a dropped birthday cake. The students said the guard called one of them a "nappy-head."

The incidents sparked protests in the town, in which people called for an end of racism.

In 2010, a Sheriff's Deputy mocked Section 8 housing residents on Facebook

But years went on, and issues persisted. In 2010, a sheriff's deputy in Palmdale posted a photo of a Section 8 voucher recipient's garage on a Facebook page called "I Hate Section 8," referring to the government program that helps low-income families pay rent.

The photo showed a number of luxury cars in the garage, and the officer had taken the photo during a compliance check, according to the LA Times.

The family ended up moving out of Palmdale after experiencing a number of racist attacks including their house being vandalized with racist graffiti, and someone yelling a racist phrase while throwing urine on a minor who lived at the house.

In 2013, a judge found that Palmdale's voting system made it difficult for Black and Latinx candidates to win elections

Racist policies were ingrained in the city, too. In 2013, a judge found that at-large elections made it more difficult for Black and Latinx candidates to win elections and violated the rights of minority voters.

The city's voting system at the time had all registered voters cast votes for all candidates, instead of separating the city into districts.

As part of a settlement made in 2015, Palmdale was required to divide the city council into four geographic districts, according to Southern California Public Radio.

In 2015, an investigation found Palmdale officials had forcibly pushed black residents into low-income housing and out of the city

More local government issues emerged in 2015, when Palmdale and nearby Lancaster, California, reached a $2 million settlement with the Department of Justice in a case that alleged city officials had colluded with the Los Angeles County housing authorities and its sheriff's department to push Black people out of their communities, CBS Los Angeles reported at the time.

The Justice Department said in its report that the sheriff's department put policies in place to discourage Black people from living int heir community.

Federal investigators found that armed sheriff's deputies were carrying out sweeps of Section 8 housing in attempts to evict residents over housing violations, and that Black people were more likely to be stopped and searched than other residents, according to the LA Times.

In 2019, there were reports of a high school student wearing blackface and teachers posing with a noose

As recent as last year, racist incidents were being reported in Palmdale and Antelope Valley's schools, tool.

In May 2019, four teachers at Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale were briefly placed on leave after a photo of them smiling and holding a noose circulated online.

The incident was investigated, and the first-grade teachers told officials that the photo was meant to be a joke marking the end of the school year. The teachers said it was meant to signify that they had "reached the end of our rope," but needed to "hang in there until summer," according to the LA Times.

The principal of the school resigned over the incident, but all four teachers were cleared of wrongdoing in September, following the investigation.

Still, investigators said the teachers were "ignorant, lacked judgment, and exhibited a gross disregard for professional decorum," and Palmdale School District spokesman David Garcia called the photo "offensive," according to the LA Times.

An investigator recommended that all teachers take sensitivity training.

Meanwhile, down the road in Antelope Valley's Lancaster, California, another school district was dealing with a racist video that came from students.

A group of teenagers used a racial slur while painting a friend in blackface, and posted footage of the incident on Snapchat in June 2019, NBC News reported at the time.

The video showed students from Quartz Hill High School using black make up to paint on to a white male teen's face, and students can be heard laughing while one says, "a white n-----?"

Antelope Valley Union High School District told parents at the time that the video featured "deeply offensive, and inexcusable racist behavior," though School Board Vice President Victoria Ruffin told reporters she was "positive these students don't fully understand why their behaviors are offensive."

It remains unclear if the students faced any punishment from the school district.

Black communities in Palmdale and Antelope Valley are still on edge

Fuller was one of several Black people to be found hanging from trees across the US in recent weeks. Authorities are still investigating his death, but amid their investigation, police in neighboring Kern County shot Fuller's half-brother in an exchange of gunfire.

Even if Fuller's death is ruled a suicide, Black communities in Antelope Valley have been vocal over the last several weeks of their concerns surrounding his death and previous incidents of racism in the area.

Najee Ali, a Los Angeles-based community activist who helped organize Palmdale protests following Fuller's death, told the Washington Post that there's a wide distrust of local officials among Black people.

"I have been getting calls for the last few years from beleaguered residents who have moved from South L.A. to the high-desert area seeking a better quality of life, only to discover they have essentially moved to an area reminiscent of Mississippi in the 1970s," Ali said. "These white residents have resisted every inch of integration from day one for decades. We believe that the leadership in Palmdale has similar views privately, that they could never express publicly."

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