Two boys have admitted to hanging a black baby doll from a noose at the former site of the Mother Bethel AME Church Cemetery, reports ABC Philadelphia. Philadelphians were left aghast at the sight of the doll strung up by the neck on Thursday, August 2, dangling above the burial ground and connected to a wire outside of the Weccacoe Square playground.

Pastor Mark Kelly-Tyler of Mother Bethel posted a photo of the doll that has now been removed by Instagram. In his caption, he deemed the act of hanging the doll a “hate crime” and said “we shall not be moved,” NBC Philadelphia reports.

“For our people, there was a time when they weren’t baby dolls, but they were real people and real bodies,” Tyler said in a Facebook Live post that has also been removed. “That didn’t stop us. This won’t either.”

Shortly after the incident made headlines, the boys, neither of whom were no older than 13 years old, admitted they were behind the disturbing act. One of the boys was black, and the other was white.

"They thought like little boys [do], 'let’s use it to creep people out,'" Tyler told NBC Philadelphia. "Later they found the noose, the hangman’s noose, and thought better to put the noose around the baby doll’s neck and just hang it in an area to scare people."

"They had no idea about the historical legacy of lynching, what that image would do, the terror that it put into people," Tyler continued.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney was quick to condemn these actions and denounce those who may feel emboldened by Donald Trump.

“Although the investigation is still underway, I want to immediately condemn this despicable act,” Kennedy said. “It demonstrates how far this country has fallen when people are inspired by the hateful rhetoric of our president. And it is particularly disgraceful to make a sacrilege out of a sacred burial ground, where thousands of African Americans are interred. The city will do everything in its power to bring the people responsible to justice for this disgusting act.”

African American burial ground

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