The claim that hateful white racists left a noose hanging in the garage of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace because he is black and supports the Black Lives Matter movement was debunked during a federal hate crime investigation, the FBI revealed Tuesday.
The Wallace story, which quickly went viral last week and was reported unquestioningly by corporate media as proof of white supremacy within the NASCAR community, has turned out to be reminiscent of the Jussie Smollett racist noose hate hoax in 2019.
In a Joint Statement from U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. regarding the noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage at Talladega Superspeedway, the FBI explained its findings.
“On Monday, fifteen FBI special agents conducted numerous interviews regarding the situation at Talladega Superspeedway. After a thorough review of the facts and evidence surrounding this event, we have concluded that no federal crime was committed,” the statement reads.
“The FBI learned that garage number 4, where the noose was found, was assigned to Bubba Wallace last week,” the statement continues. “The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019. Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week.”
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office made the “decision not to pursue federal charges is proper after reviewing all available facts and all applicable federal laws,” and offered thanks to “NASCAR, Mr. Wallace, and everyone who cooperated with this investigation.”
Given that the “noose” existed in the garage since 2019, sources familiar with the internal logistics at NASCAR have speculated that it may not have been a noose at all, but a pulldown loop for the garage door.
The FBI has not addressed said speculation.
Wallace had previously described the noose incident as a “despicable act of racism and hatred” that “serves as a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism.”
UPDATE: The “noose” was indeed a garage pull down rope.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 23, 2020
