Bubba Wallace is being hailed as the “Jussie Smollett of NASCAR.” After George Floyd was killed, Wallace decided it was time to ban the Confederate flag from all NASCAR events. Donning a Black Lives Matter t-shirt with the phrase “I can’t breathe,” the black NASCAR driver wanted his cause to make more news than it did.
Most people just didn’t care that Wallace got the Confederate flag banned. NASCAR fans that wanted to fly the flag still did so in the parking lot. Then, a New York Times article came out saying Bubba is scared for his safety.
“He [Wallace’s father] was proud of what I was doing on and off the racetrack, but he was worried about safety, going out in public and whatnot,” Wallace, who is known as Bubba, told the NY Times on Friday. “It’s just crazy you have to worry about that side of things. Definitely got to watch your back now.”
Then, on Sunday, reports that a “hate crime” had been committed against Bubba Wallace started to surface. The FBI had been called and notified that garage number 4, which was assigned to Bubba Wallace, had a noose hanging.
“I’m hurt and I’m sad that people would go to those measures,” Wallace told Goldberg. “I’m not shocked because we see the stuff that goes on in the world. But it’s just unfortunate that it happened to me and my crew and I had to witness it.”
When asked by Sunny Hostin what he says to people who claim this was a hoax, Wallace said, “Simple-minded people are entitled to their own opinion, whatever to help them sleep at night.”
Well, anyone looking at the pics provided could already conclude it looks like a garage door rope, not a noose. Especially since those areas have tight security and other garages have ropes.
The FBI concluded after reviewing prior 2019 video of that specific garage bay, at that specific speedway; and after reviewing a picture released yesterday showing the investigators on the scene; it is clear the “rope noose” in question was nothing more than a manual garage door pull-down with a hand loop tied into it.
U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. said its investigation determined “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,” Associated Press reports.
Why the agents continued to refer to the rope as a “noose,” after determining there is no hate crime and no way anyone could have known Wallace would use that stall, is unknown.
“NASCAR said in a statement that ‘the FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall,” the AP reports. “This was obviously well before the 43 team’s arrival and garage assignment.”
Many social media users sounded off about Bubba Wallace and this latest fake hate crime.
Wallace was caught throwing water into one crew member’s face as this tweet by Nate Woodward shows: “For all the people who support #FakeNoose @BubbaWallace Smollett who is ‘offended anyone would try to disprove the incident’ as he said on The View. Let’s remember he’s also a fcking a*hole in addition to being a fraud.”
“So Bubba Wallace wins annoying wanna-be victim of the year. Literally attempted to whip up a race war by claiming a noose was hung in his garage… and it turned out it was just the garage door opener. Jussie Smollett was vile and this is just PATHETIC lol,” tweeted Christian Walker.
It sure is suspect that on Friday Bubba Wallace is promoting how he canceled the Confederate flag and how he is in danger, and then by Sunday the FBI is called over this suspected hate crime.
Was this an attempt to self-promote? You can easily draw that conclusion. His girlfriend, Amanda Carter, also got a ton of attention by posting pics on Instagram. She even got the Daily Mail to publish an article about how hard it has been for the biracial couple.
“I am so proud of you for standing up for what is right and continuing to do so without fear of the outcome,” Amanda Carter wrote. “For continuing to stand faced with uncertainty and fear all with a smile on your face. I am so proud of you for using your platform. I wish the people saying hurtful comments knew you.”
