No criminal charges in noose case.

Because the perp is black, of course.

A firefighter who reported finding a knotted rope and a threatening note with a drawing of a noose in an East Baltimore station house last month had placed the items there himself, city officials said yesterday.

The man was suspended last week for performance-related issues and will likely face additional punishment, fire officials said. Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Police Department and for Mayor Sheila Dixon, said the man admitted to the hoax and will not face criminal charges.

Officials identified the firefighter who they say acknowledged writing the note as Donald Maynard, a firefighter-paramedic apprentice who is black. Maynard could not be reached for comment.

The rope incident sparked outrage two weeks ago and prompted a federal investigation into possible civil rights violations. It was the latest in a series of incidents that have cast the Fire Department in a poor light over the past year, including the death of a recruit in a training exercise and accusations of racism.

The news of the hoax came a day after a report released by the city's inspector general found that the top performers on two recent Fire Department promotions exams likely cheated amid lapses in testing security.

So let's see here.

A cheating scandal breaks out in the Baltimore Fire Department.

One of those involved finds a noose and a note.

Accusations of racism fly, and a civil rights investigation ensues.

Now it turns out the perp is one of the black guys involved in the cheating scandal, and the party who found the noose.

Well, never mind -- no need for charges criminal charges here. But if he had been white, Donald Maynard would have had the book thrown at him, by local, state, and federal authorities, on the basis of the civil rights violation posed by the noose.

Excuse me, but didn't Maynard just victimize every black -- and every white -- member of the BFD? Why should he get a pass on his CRIME?

Lock him up and throw away the key -- or admit that the current noose hysteria is nothing more than a PC move designed to score more points for the ethnic grievance industry.

More At Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Right Angles

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Chuck Adkins, Adeline and Hazel, The Uncooperative Radio Show! Special Weekend!, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, CommonSenseAmerica, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Church and State, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, AZAMATTEROFACT, 123beta, Adam's Blog, Big Dog's Weblog, Cao's Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, Nuke's, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Global American Discourse, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.