Hanging dummies cause Halloween stir

FREDERICK, Md. -- Some say they are scarecrows hanging from the trees to scare children on Halloween night. Others say they resemble lynchings and are racist.

"Right after I saw it, the first thing that came to my mind was Billie Holiday singing 'Strange Fruit,'" said Reid Fiester.

He says the dummies looked like pictures of hangings, "I was offended."

The display is dividing the town. Mayor Jeff Holtzinger came to the display's defense and refused to take it down. He said the rope held the figures up by their arms and torso-- not their necks like a noose.

But the mayor had a change of heart after talking with some Frederick City residents. By the end of the day, members of the Parks and Recreation Department pulled up their truck and brought the figures down.

Frederick County NAACP President Guy Djoken says it was the right thing to do.