No Charges For NJ Wrestlers in Alleged Lynching Photo

BELVIDERE, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey prosecutor says no charges will be filed against the members of a high school wrestling team who posed in a photograph that simulated a lynching.

The Warren County prosecutor's office said Thursday that its investigation with the Phillipsburg police found no criminal wrongdoing.

The photo, which surfaced online, showed seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High wrestling attire posing with a black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro wrestling shirt and hanging from a noose (See Previous Story). Two of the boys had the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points.

Paulsboro and Phillipsburg high schools are longtime wrestling powerhouses and rivals. Phillipsburg is about 85 percent white. More than one-third of Paulsboro's residents are black.

Prosecutor Richard T. Burke says his decision was cleared with the state attorney general's office.