Barnes & Noble: Obama-Monkey Display a ‘Hate Crime’

Recently a photo of Barnes & Noble book display board was circulated widely over the Internet. The photo showed various books about President Obama around a central photo of a monkey book. Barnes & Noble claims some prankster did this intentionally.

The photo shown in this site was the catalyst of this controversy. The photos shows a book on monkeys “Monkey: A Captivating Look at These Fascinating Animals” with a number of books around it focusing on President Obama and his wife Michelle. The book chain Barnes & Noble deny someone deliberately placed the monkey book in the display. They call it a “hate crime” Leonard Riggio, founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble, said in a statement:

This malicious and despicable act is nothing short of a hate crime, which should be punishable under federal statutes.

The book chain claims as soon as this prank was noticed, it removed the book from the display. It says whoever put the books there must have snapped the picture and distributed it over the Internet. But if you go to any Barnes & Noble book store, the book displays are usually behind the staff desks and are locked from the public.