The “noose” in the garage assigned to African-American NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace in Talladega turned out to be a pull rope for the door that was there before, and not a hate crime, the FBI has confirmed.
“After a thorough review of the facts and evidence surrounding this event, we have concluded that no federal crime was committed,” FBI Special Agent Johnnie Sharp Jr. and US attorney Jay E. Town said in a statement on Tuesday.
Fifteen FBI agents were involved in the investigation, and established that the “noose” had been there since at least October 2019, when the stall was assigned to another team – and was therefore not fashioned as a hateful threat to the African-American driver.
1. Statement from the FBI…
Noose found in garage assigned to Bubba Wallace has been there since 10/2019. Wallace was only assigned the garage where it was found last week
Earlier today videos were posted showing ropes fashioned as nooses are used to pull down garage doors pic.twitter.com/gFW5ARXSQE
One of Wallace’s team members claimed to have discovered a noose in their garage stall at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama on Sunday. NASCAR quickly called for a hate crime investigation, interpreting the rope as an intent to invoke lynching.
Wallace himself said he was “incredibly saddened” by the “despicable act of racism and hatred,” lamenting the incident as proof that the US was still struggling to overcome racism, but vowed that he would “never back down” and continue to stand against bigotry.
