Noose Found At Edmonds Construction Under Police Investigation

EDMONDS, WA - Two black construction workers found a 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, spokesman Sgt. Shane Hawley told Patch Tuesday

"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.

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."

There have been a series of racially tinged vandalism incidents this year in Edmonds. In April, someone sprayed swastikas on cars in the Westgate and Esperance neighborhoods. In June, taggers defaced the Madrona School with racist and sexist graffiti, including a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

Edmonds police arrested a 21-year-old man in July who was caught tagging Westgate Chapel with a swastika. He was suspected in the other graffiti incidents.

The construction site is at 50 Pine St. south of the downtown area.

Image via Patch