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VERIFY: FBI determines Bubba Wallace not target of hate crime

Reports of a noose hanging in Wallace’s stall in Talladega have now been determined to be a garage door pull rope seen there in 2019.

Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, has been at the center of news stories in the last month. 


He made headlines when he called on NASCAR to ban the confederate flag at races and he was also in the news when he covered his car with #BlackLivesMatter logos and images.

But the biggest story involving Wallace came in the last week - after NASCAR reported a noose was found in Wallace’s garage at the Talladega Superspeedway. 

The FBI, DOJ and NASCAR all started investigating to find out who was responsible - and Tuesday, the FBI said they would not be pursuing Federal hate crime charges.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday, “we are continuing our portion of the investigation to try and determine why there was a rope fashioned into a noose.”

NASCAR wrote that “the FBI has completed its investigation at Talladega Superspeedway and determined that Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime.”


The FBI also put out a statement confirming that their investigation was over and that they would not be seeking federal charges.

While these statements put an end to a lot of the claims online - they also generated others.

WAS THERE ACTUALLY A NOOSE?

Yes. Both NASCAR and the recent FBI statement confirm a noose was found in Bubba Wallace’s garage at the Talladega Superspeedway, although it doesn’t appear that the rope fashioned into what appeared to be a noose was meant to be anything more than a handle.

NASCAR wrote that it was actually a “garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose.”

WAS IT ACTUALLY A SERPENTINE BELT?

No. A viral image claimed that the entire thing was a misunderstanding and that NASCAR had confirmed that Wallace had actually mistaken a serpentine belt for a noose. NASCAR never made that statement and the viral post that made the claim was not sourced and later deleted.

Both the FBI And NASCAR confirm that the noose was made of rope.

WAS THE NOOSE A TARGETED HATE CRIME?

No. The FBI and NASCAR both stated that the pull rope had been in the garage since at least October of 2019. That’s long before Wallace was assigned to that garage. 

NASCAR said, “Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime.”

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