No charges for NJ high school wrestlers in lynching photo

Tyler Agans, Tylor Petchonka, Andrew Horun, Broderick Bupivi, Jimmy Schuitema, Tim Hinkle, Garrett Wolfinger, DJ Wissing, Scott Wilhelm
Philipsburg High School wrestlers, from left, Tyler Agans, Tylor Petchonka, Andrew Horun, Broderick Bupivi, Jimmy Schuitema, Tim Hinkle, Garrett Wolfinger, and Daniel Wissing, who were scratched from a state tournament days after a photo surfaced of team members apparently simulating a lynching, look on as their attorney, Scott Wilhelm, reads a statement on their behalf at a news conference on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 in Philipsburg, N.J. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

BELVIDERE, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey prosecutor says no charges will be filed against the members of a high school wrestling team who posed in a photograph that simulated a lynching.
The Warren County prosecutor’s office said Thursday that its investigation with the Phillipsburg police found no criminal wrongdoing.
The photo, which surfaced online, showed seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High wrestling attire posing with Black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro wrestling shirt and hanging from a noose. Two of the boys had the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points.
Paulsboro and Phillipsburg high schools are longtime wrestling powerhouses and rivals. Phillipsburg is about 85 percent White. More than one-third of Paulsboro’s residents are Black.
Prosecutor Richard T. Burke says his decision was cleared with the state attorney general’s office.

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