Police in Nevada launch investigation into viral video depicting racist incident at ‘Hanging Tree’
Cops in Nevada are investigating after a Black man shared a video where he claims a white man called him racial slurs and told him about a “hanging tree.”
The viral footage picks up with the white man smiling and flipping off the Black man, who has since been identified as Rick Johnson. Johnson asks where the supposed “hanging tree” is and the white man fires back, “In your backyard.”
The video was filmed Friday outside the Firehouse Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada during a classic-car show called “Hot August Nights” … and Johnson says he was there registering people to vote.
Johnson continues to film the man, who asks him to leave. Johnson stands his ground … and then his antagonist tells him, “I don’t make trash, I burn it.”
Bystanders try to defuse the situation, but the two men keep going at it … and then a couple women emerge from the saloon and try to usher Johnson away.
He tells one of the women … “You dad just said there’s a hanging tree for n****** like me. What does that mean?”
Johnson captioned the 5-minute video … “Racism at its best, Virginia City, Nevada.”
The Storey County Sheriff’s Office says they have received reports about the incident and have seen the video and they are investigating.
The Sheriff says … “We at the sheriff’s office do not condone or support racism, inequality, or hate speech.”
Meanwhile, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford says he’s “aware of the hateful, racist incident caught on camera in Virginia City, one of Nevada’s most storied towns … I wholly condemn their actions.”