Police in Allentown, Pa., investigating noose found on City Hall employee's desk

Christopher Dornblaser and Lindsay Weber, The Morning Call on Jan 10, 2025

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ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown police are investigating after what appeared to be a noose was found Friday morning on a City Hall employee’s desk.

The Police Department said in a news release that it was notified about 7:30 a.m. that a small item resembling a noose was discovered on the desk.

Investigators said the incident is being taken seriously and is under investigation.

Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach said the noose was left on the computer of a Black female employee in the city’s community and economic development department.

Gerlach said she is “angry” and “irate” about the incident, and called it a “hate crime.”

“It’s not just her, it’s multiple employees who have made their complaints and their concerns, and nothing has been done and now we’ve got an unsafe working environment where a woman has to walk to her freaking desk and her life is threatened, that’s what that is,” Gerlach said. “An act of violence occurred in City Hall, and whoever is responsible needs to be charged with a federal hate crime and arrested and fired immediately. This is very serious and I’m very upset.”

City spokesperson Genesis Ortega said Friday that the incident was immediately reported to Allentown police. She said the city administration is fully committed to ensuring a thorough investigation of the matter.

Ortega said the city is not able to provide additional details because the investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 610-437-7721.

The investigation into the noose comes after multiple employees have publicly alleged racism and discrimination at City Hall.

The Allentown NAACP wrote in a 2023 letter that 10 city employees across departments said they experienced racial discrimination.

City Council is pursuing an independent investigation into those allegations and last June hired former FBI agent Scott Curtis to look into the claims, but the investigation is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with the city administration.

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