Three construction workers fired over incident with noose, police investigating hate crime
Jul 22, 2022, 6:00 PM
The noose found on one of BNBuilders' work sites
has confirmed three individuals were terminated recently for their alleged involvement in an incident at a construction site in Redmond, where a noose was found with a Black carpenter鈥檚 name on it.
“I’m embarrassed. Mad. It was not what a union carpenter is. We are respectful of others. Especially with the apprenticeship side is sensitivity. So, I guess I was disappointed in those members,” said Jim Gleason, the PNW Regional Council Supervisor of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. 鈥淚 think the members are a lot more aware and members that are not involved in this [expletive] will be more active to report now and verify discrimination and harassment on job sites.鈥�
On June 25, a 33-year-old black male carpenter told the Redmond Police Department that he saw a rope tied like a noose that hung in a shared trailer used for tool and equipment storage on a job site. A piece of carpentry equipment was attached to the noose by a piece of tape with the victim鈥檚 name written on it.
Gleason said the Carpenters Union conducts extensive diversity training with their apprentices and carpenters to ensure this is an inclusive work environment.
Gleason stated he agreed with BNBuilders’ decision to fire the employees, but others, including activist Eddie Rye Jr., said incidents like this show something more.
鈥淲e have a serious problem. There鈥檚 a shortage of workers, yet we still have this discrimination,” Rye said. “We have to do something to remedy that. As far as I鈥檓 concerned, there has to be some charges brought and there also has to be transparency. We need to know who the people that perpetrated this are.”
Seattle鈥檚 long-ago battle to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This incident was just one of five threats involving a noose to occur in the area over the last three years.
Sharon Lane previously said she found several nooses at a construction site at the Microsoft campus back in 2021. She cited that incident as her reason for quitting after 14 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really sad that, you know, at this time and age, this is still happening,鈥� Lane said.
A company spokesperson stated this was an ongoing investigation and they were still working with Redmond police on the matter. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
