Federal officials looking into noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage

By ALEX

Investigators at both the United States Department of Justice and the F.B.I are looking into the noose found in NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace's garage stall at the Talledega Motor Speedway found Sunday. The investigation will be to determine if any federal law was broken, according to an announcement from the DoJ.

"The U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Alabama, FBI and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division are reviewing the situation surrounding the noose that was found in Bubba Wallace's garage to determine whether there are violations of federal law. Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society," reads a statement released by the DoJ.

NASCAR has also announced an internal investigation into the matter and condemning what happened as a "heinous act." The organization has come under fire recently after announcing that it would no longer allow confederate flags at their events. Those who protested the decision flew flags outside of the Talledega Speedway's entrance as well as banners saying "defund NASCAR," yesterday.

If you think about it, this is the first time NASCAR and NPR could be compared. Calls to defund both have been made recently, both organizations cater to groups of people widely stereotyped by the other and neither organization is actually funded by the government.

Public reaction to the act has been even more interesting. Following the incident you see Bubba Wallace releasing a statement via Twitter calling the act "despicable," saying:

"Today's despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened and 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."

And

"This will not break me, I will not give in or back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in."

Then you have people showing support for the driver including Dave Moody an announcer for the Motor Speed network saying:

"Amen brother, stand strong and keep being you. Soon enough these people will be run out of the sport and no one will miss them."

However, on the flip side you have people comparing this incident to what happened with Jussie Smollet last year where the actor faked an assault to gain national attention. Some people responded to his post calling him Bubba Smollet among other things.

We'll have to wait and see what happens next. The investigation could take a few days or even weeks and we won't know much more until the truth gets uncovered.

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