US federal authorities are overseeing an investigation into the death of a black man found hanging from a tree in California. 

The body of Robert Fuller, 24, was found last week in a park in the city of Palmdale.

His death was initially ruled a suicide by the county medical examiner-coroner’s office, but Mr Fuller’s family said they believed he was not suicidal.

The incident prompted large protests over the weekend as demonstrators called for an independent investigation and post-mortem examination.

Senator Kamala Harris, Jaden Smith, and the lawyer for George’s Floyd’s family, Ben Crump, were among those calling for a further investigation.

Ms Harris said on Twitter that Mr Fuller’s family and community “deserve answers”, while Smith called for “justice”.

An online petition demanding an investigation collected more than 200,000 signatures.

Los Angeles County’s medical examiner-coroner, Dr Jonathan Lucas, said: “The initial report appeared to be consistent with a suicide but we felt it prudent to roll that back and continue to look deeper.”

Officials said investigators had only found rope and a backpack in the park, and nothing to indicate foul play.

But Mr Fuller’s sister, Diamond Alexander, told a rally at the weekend: “We really want to find out the truth of what really happened.

“It’s like everything that they’ve been telling us is just not right… We’re sitting here staring at this tree, it just doesn’t make sense.”

The state attorney general’s office and the FBI’s Civil Rights Division will oversee the investigation, which is being led by the Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide bureau.

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