The FBI said no one will be charged in connection with the discovery of a noose in a garage used by black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace after an investigation revealed it was attached to a door pull rope and had been there since at least October.
Key points:
- Video shows noose in garage door cord was there in October 2019
- The FBI said there was no way for anyone to know Wallace would be assigned to that particular garage, and that no crime had been committed.
- NASCAR said it was relieved but continued its investigation
U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. said “no one could have known that Mr. Wallace would be assigned” to the Talladega Superspeedway garage.
NASCAR said it reviewed video showing that the “noose-shaped garage door pull rope” was there in October 2019, “well before” the garage was assigned to Wallace’s 43 team.
The noose was found at the Alabama racetrack on Sunday by a member of the Richard Petty Motorsports team. NASCAR was alerted and contacted the FBI, who sent 15 agents to the track to investigate.
They determined that no federal crime had been committed.
The federal statement said the garage was assigned to Wallace last week, ahead of the race, which was scheduled for Sunday but delayed a day because of rain.
Wallace succeeded pushed the stock car series to ban the Confederate flag from its venues less than two weeks ago.
This drew criticism from some longtime fans, and security around Wallace was tightened.
The 26-year-old, from Alabama, wore an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt and his car sported a Black Lives Matter paint job.
Bubba Wallace was moved to tears by the support he received from his fellow drivers. (AP: John Bazemore)
NASCAR chairman Steve Phelps said the series is continuing its own investigation.
He said the fact that the story was not directed at Wallace was “a great conclusion for us,” but he insisted that NASCAR would have conducted its investigation the same way even if it had known it was not a hate crime.
“We would have done the same investigation. It was important for us to do that,” he said, stressing that Wallace’s Team 43 had nothing to do with the incident.
“The evidence was very clear: the noose that was in the garage was already there. At the last race we had in October, that noose was there. The evidence we had was very clear that we needed to look at this,” he said.
Drivers rallied around Bubba Wallace at Talladega. (Twitter: Bubba Wallace)
Wood Brothers Racing said one of its employees informed the team that he recalled “seeing a handle tied into the garage pull rope” during a NASCAR race at Talladega in October. The team said it immediately alerted NASCAR and participated in the investigation.
The discovery of the noose stunned the stock car series, which has taken an active stance for inclusion while distancing itself from its turbulent racial history. The series first tried to ban the Confederate flag five years ago but did nothing to enforce the order.
Following the incident, teams and other drivers gathered around Wallace.
The 39 rival drivers and their crews helped push Wallace’s car to the front of the pit lane before the national anthem. Monday, and we stood behind him in solidarity.
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AP
