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Behind the Brand/YouTube

Police now investigating after Rainn Wilson posts photo of noose found in Black friend’s front yard

Wilson claimed the police initially brushed the incident off.

 

Dominic-Madori Davis

Streaming

Posted on Jun 8, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 10:59 am CDT

It looks like justice might be served.

On Tuesday, Rainn Wilson shared a photo of a noose hanging on a tree in his black friend’s front yard and claimed the police initially brushed the incident off. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Saturday that they will now be investigating the matter as a hate crime.

The announcement comes after Wilson shared a disturbing photo of the find on Instagram–to his 1.6 million followers. Wilson said when they called the police on the day of the incident, officers essentially asked, “What’s the big deal?”

“Well, officer, the noose is the symbol of lynching which was used to hang thousands of African Americans, especially by the Klan,” the actor wrote. “It is as strong a symbol of racial hatred, violence, and oppression as a Swastika.”

The photo quickly went viral, amassing over 215,000 likes in one day.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s detectives are pushing back on the claim that they brushed off the initial investigation of the noose. Law enforcement told TMZ that when the officers arrived on the scene, the noose had already been taken down. Wilson’s friend had officers make note of the incident and provided them with photos.

Officers have also checked surveillance footage in the area, but so far have not found anything. TMZ’s law enforcement source told the outlet that the department is taking this hate crime “very seriously, especially in today’s climate.”

There are currently there are no suspects in the case.

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H/T TMZ

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*First Published: Jun 8, 2019, 12:41 pm CDT