Georgia Jimmy John’s employees fired following noose incident
The company released a corporate apology, stating that the actions of the workers are 'absolutely unacceptable' and does not represent their brand
Four Jimmy John’s employees have been fired after posting a video that went viral where they were making a noose out of bread dough.
The video went viral over the holiday weekend after being posted to Snapchat using a “Happy 4th of July” filter. In the video, one of the employees puts his head through the noose while two others laughed. Another is seen on camera making jokes about it.
READ MORE: Jimmy John’s worker reenacts lynching with a noose made of dough
The video was posted to Twitter and viewed nearly 60,000 times.
Jimmy John’s replied to the post saying, “We have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in any form.” They continued, “The franchisee has taken immediate action and the employees have been terminated. The actions seen in this video are completely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John’s brand.”
The company also posted in another statement that the franchisee who owns the shop is meeting with their team to “prevent anything like this from ever happening again.”
The incident occurred in Woodstock, Georgia— a suburb of Atlanta. The city has been the scene of intense protests against police violence for weeks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Protests were heightened in the city after the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks on June 12. Former Atlanta police officer, Garrett Rolfe, was fired and charged with felony murder in the killing.
READ MORE: NASCAR releases photo of noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage
National protests have highlighted how nooses are historically viewed as symbols of racism and oppression. NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, was both scrutinized and supported after a noose was found hanging in his garage. The rope had been there since last year, making it not a hate crime. However, it sparked a national dialogue.
President Donald Trump called for Wallace to apologize for the “hoax,” on Monday. But, Wallace has been overwhelmingly supported by family, friends, sponsors and community leaders since the incident.
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