APOPKA, Fla. — A mannequin with a noose around its neck (see images) has drawn a lot of attention in Apopka. Some residents called it racially motivated, but the owner told WFTV it's just a Halloween decoration and she's not taking it down.
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"Somebody had perceived her as being black, a black woman," said Kathy Plyler, who owns the produce store on Highway 441 in Apopka (watch interview).
"Is it a black mannequin?" WFTV reporter Mark Boyle asked.
"No," she said.
Plyler said she hangs the mannequin in front of her store every year, but this is the first time she put a dress on it. Some perceived the mannequin, which has a dark, masked face, as being a black woman.
"That is a very negative sign to the black community, he knows," resident Debra Matthew said. "To us, that represents, that's a symbol of lynching and that's a form of disrespect to the black community."
Halloween Noose 10 Ss Halloween Noose 10 Ss See Images | Watch Interview Orange County sheriff's deputies went to the Kathy's Produce on Wednesday and suggested she take it down.
"He suggested that it might be a good idea if I took her down," Plyler told WFTV.
"But you're not going to?" Boyle asked.
"Yes, I am," she said. "November 1st."
Plyler also said deputies told her she may have to protect herself against violence. She told WFTV she has a gun, surveillance cameras and a dog for protection if anything were to happen.
"Some may think having a mannequin hanging by a noose along 441 is a bit insensitive. That is true, that is very true," she said. "Some people think the witch out there, with her hands tied behind her, is very insensitive."
The NAACP is also looking into the hanging mannequin and could speak with Plyler about taking it down.