Investigation Of Noose At Edmonds Construction Site 'Inactivated'

EDMONDS, WA - Edmonds police on Wednesday said that the case of a noose found at a city construction site in early November is now "inactive." An Edmonds detective interviewed multiple people involved but could not come up with conclusive evidence to make an arrest, department spokesman Sgt. Shane Hawley said.

Two black construction workers found the noose Oct. 26 at a downtown-area construction site where they were employed, according to Edmonds police. The two employees reported the incident to the site foreman, who apparently "dismissed" the complaint.

Edmonds police detectives are investigating the incident, and the FBI has been contacted, Hawley told Patch in November.

"On October 26th, two African-American construction workers at the Point Edwards construction site found a noose tied over a beam in an area they had access to. The workers are part of a local apprenticeship program. They reported this to the site foreman at the time. They claim the foreman dismissed it," Hawley said in a statement in November.

The contractor working on the Point Edwards project is Venture General Contracting. The company reported the incident to Edmonds police on Nov. 3.

"Venture strictly prohibits workplace harassment and racial intolerance and in no way condones this offensive action," the company said in a statement sent to Patch. "Our team is deeply committed to maintaining an open and inclusive workplace for our employees and subcontractors. We take this situation very seriously and our team is fully and proactively cooperating with all parties involved."

The department's statement about the case read in part:

The investigation started the first week of November, when the department was notified that two African-American workers had found a noose hanging over a rafter at the construction site where they work. The investigation was assigned to Detective Julie Govantes.

Over the course of several weeks, Detective Govantes interviewed multiple people that might have knowledge about the incident. Despite the lengthy investigation, we were not able to uncover evidence that identified anyone as a suspect. Given this fact, the case has been inactivated. It can be re-opened should new evidence come to light.

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