#NASCAR noose and NYPD poisonings proved bogus — but look what happened next

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An FBI investigation found that no one put a noose in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage; it was just a pull-rope for the door that had been there for months.
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No one put a noose in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage, and no one tried to poison three cops with milkshakes: Both tales of mistaken outrages have some telling lessons.

The FBI agents sent in to investigate learned that the “noose” found in a garage assigned to Wallace (an outspoken Black Lives Matter supporter) was just a pull-rope for the door that had been there since last October.

And NYPD investigators quickly determined that the “poisoned” shakes served to three cops were just the result of a badly cleaned shake machine — and they’d ordered remotely, so Shake Shack workers didn’t even know the drinks were for police officers.

Wallace never even saw the “noose”; the three cops never felt sick.

Yet hysteria followed in each case, before any facts were in: Police unions tweeted outrage at the “poisonings,” while CNN and some other media exploded over the supposed racist threat.

Lesson No. 1 holds for both stories: Social media and 24/7 cable spread a whole lot of “news” that isn’t. Wait for the facts before you lose your marbles.

But Lesson No. 2 is about the contrast: The cop unions pulled their tweets once the facts came out. Yet some insist the debunked Wallace story is somehow still true.

Atlantic columnist Jemele Hill won’t accept the full facts, tweeting: “It. Was. A. Noose. They just don’t believe it was directed at Bubba Wallace.” Which, conveniently, lets her claim it’s all still “a disgusting reminder of who this sport is for.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, meanwhile, wants the investigation to continue — until, we guess, it proves that Tawana Brawley told the truth.

The times are tense, and everyone’s buggy after months of lockdown; jumping to conclusions is understandable. But refusing to admit you did so is foolish and vile.