A New Jersey family has put up a stuffed dummy hanging from a noose around the neck, part of a Halloween display that's outraged residents for its racist overtone.
Salem County NAACP President Nelson Carney Jr. told NJ.com that he's called the prosecutor about the display in Alloway Township. He acknowledged the family may have not meant any harm, "but in this day and age, it has to come down. A lot of people have taken offense to it."
The figure hanging on the porch appears to depict a man with a burlap sack over its head and a rope around the neck; a button-down shirt is splattered with fake blood, and jeans and sneakers also hang from the figure. Its gloved hands are tied behind the back.
The house -- which also features other Halloween decorations, including a coffin, tombstones, skeletons and a silhouette of a witch -- is near Main Street, where the town will have its annual Halloween parade on Saturday.
The home resident told NJ.com on Thursday that he hadn't heard any complaints about his decorations, and that he didn't mean to offend anyone. He said he had no intentions for it to be about race.
The man said he's a big horror fan and that he got the idea for the dummy from a haunted hayride at Creamy Acres, where a cowboy hangs from a water tower. He said his family, which includes African-American children, all enjoyed the display.
"I do everything for the love of the holiday," Joel Jiannone told NJ.com. "I don't do it to offend people. I grew up on Halloween. I get into horror movies. I do not want to offend anybody."
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He also said he would be willing to take it down if it was deemed offensive. The Salem County prosecutor said investigators had gone to speak with him but no one was home at the time.
There are 2,000 residents in the 7-square-mile town of Alloway, 94 percent of which is white.
