No arrests in Windsor Amazon noose placement
Authorities say case remains open
After an extensive investigation, “investigators were unable to establish probable cause,” in the April 24 discovery of a noose on the Windsor site where an Amazon warehouse was being constructed, police announced in a news release on Friday.
In a case that attracted national attention due to its racial overtones, and slowed progress on the development at 1201 Kennedy Road, a noose was found at the site on April 24, hanging from a beam. Within a week, five more noose-like hanging ropes were found on the construction site. Within four weeks, a total of eight nooses had been found.
Friday’s release from Capt. Andrew Power said the case, into the placement of the first noose, will be kept open as long as the statute of limitations allows, in case more information is uncovered. Amazon has established a $100,000 reward for information on the responsible party.
The case was investigated with the FBI, Connecticut State Police and Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office.
“Numerous interviews of Amazon construction site personnel were conducted, including steel workers, electricians, safety and security workers, and administrative personnel, as well as others not directly involved in the construction site. Investigators reviewed personnel records of multiple employees, camera footage, and shift logs,” Power’s statement read.
People identified as “persons of interest” were scheduled for polygraph tests, Power wrote. Those tests were conducted, after which time the people tested withdrew from the investigation.
“These persons of interest discussed that they believed they were being targeted on the theory that
they hung the noose to get off the job in hopes of getting a prevailing wage,
higher paying job at a different site,” Power wrote.
The lack of surveillance cameras in the spots where the nooses were found hampered the investigation, as did the fact that workers from many companies were active at the site. Since the discovery of the nooses, additional cameras were installed and regular police patrols established.
The discovery of the nooses set off turmoil in the town, with racial justice activists and workers of color at the site demanding action in what was seen as an ominously racist discovery.
In a May news conference on the site, the NAACP referred to the hanging of the nooses as “hate crimes.” Local activist groups, including Powerup CT, the Self Defense Brigade, the Huey P. Newton Gun Club and the New Black Panthers, held protests on the site in support of workers there.