Yesterday, the FBI determined that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime after a noose had been found hanging in his garage. Shortly after the FBI made an announcement, Bubba talked with Don Lemon on CNN and shared his thoughts following their findings.
He said, “I’m mad because people are trying to test my character and the person that I am and my integrity.”
He continued to tell his side of the story and explained how Steve Phelps, the Vice President of NASCAR brought to his attention that the rope had been hanging in his garage. He said that Phelps called him about the rope, and then walked over to his motor home at the race track and told him about the suspected noose in person.
Bubba said, “The look he had on his face, it alerted me in a way I would never forget as well. And still thinking like ‘Okay what did I do, let me know.'”
He continued, “The conversation that I had with Steve Phelps was probably the hardest thing, if not the hardest things he had to tell somebody. Tears rolling down his face, chocked upon every word that he was trying to say. That the evidence he had brought to me, that a hate crime was committed, and I immediately thought my family was in danger. So I was about to call my mom and dad and make sure everybody was okay.”
On Tuesday, the FBI announced the conclusion of their investigation and said the noose had been in the garage since last year, which meant that Bubba was not a victim of a hate crime. They continued to describe the item as a “garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose.”
Nonetheless, Bubba is keeping the same stance that regardless of when it was put in the garage, that it was still a noose.
Bubba said to Don, “It was a noose. Whether tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a noose. So, it wasn’t directed at me but somebody tied a noose. That’s what I’m saying.”
As we previously reported, Bubba released a statement late Sunday and said that incident saddened him, but he would not allow it to break him.
Check out what Bubba Wallace had to say below:
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
