AOC is facing sharp criticism online after claiming recent hanging deaths of Black Americans represent "widespread modern-day lynchings" and "racial terror." The New York Democrat joined roughly 50 colleagues in urging the DOJ and FBI to investigate every hanging death of a Black individual in the U.S., claiming federal agencies have long failed to properly examine these cases. However, critics and X Community Notes pointed out that several recent cases were ruled suicides by medical examiners and law enforcement, while another remains an open homicide investigation.