Police Push Back After ‘The Office’ Star Rainn Wilson Accuses Them of Not Investigating Noose Left in Neighbor’s Tree

Police are hitting back after The Office star Rainn Wilson accused them of failing to act when made aware of a potential hate crime. The 53-year-old actor took to social media earlier this week to share an Instagram photo of a noose that allegedly appeared outside the home of a black friend of Wilson’s.

The actor said in his post that the woman called the police after her 17-year-old daughter found the noose in front of their suburban Los Angeles home, but officers essentially did nothing. He called the imagery “chilling.” Wilson claimed their reaction was “essentially, ‘what’s the big deal?’” He went on to talk about the history and symbolism behind the noose as it relates to the African American community.

“Well, officer, the noose is the symbol of lynching which was used to hang thousands of African Americans, especially by the Klan,” Wilson wrote on Instagram.

Wilson noted in his post that “this is a pretty lame noose,” possibly made by kids in the area, but said that as a symbol of racist hatred and oppression it should be taken seriously. The actor said “folks are in denial” about the fact that racism continues to exist in 2019, but added that it’s very real.

“Jamey told me today that last year, while playing golf, he was looking for his ball in the brush and a white guy who wanted to play through called out ‘Hey, you can hurry up, we don’t have you picking cotton anymore!’,” Wilson shared.

“Not sure if he was trying to be funny or not but literally Jamey’s great grandfather was an ACTUAL SLAVE no a plantation and was regularly beaten there. That’s not that long ago. Great grandfather. And, perhaps a relative or two of Jamey’s were lynched. Or saw a lynching. Or heard of a lynching,” he continued.

Police have denied Wilson’s allegations, TMZ reported. A law enforcement source said that by the time police responded to the call about the noose, it had been removed from the yard. TMZ reported that the woman wanted police to note that the incident occurred. She provided them with photos of the noose, which she’d thrown in the garbage, and that was it, according to the outlet.

TMZ‘s sources said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives are working on the case, and hope to determine who may have left the noose in the woman’s yard. Officers have reportedly checked surveillance footage, but haven’t gotten any leads. TMZ‘s source said the department takes this kind of crime “very seriously, especially in today’s climate.”

There are not currently any suspects in the case.