TikTok Clash Over ‘F**k You’ Note Left on Trump Fan’s Confederate Noose Truck Gets Even Weirder When Twitter Finds It

Tommy ChristopherJul 14th, 2020, 12:08 pm
 

A social media clash over racist symbols played out in unusual fashion across multiple platforms, beginning with a Twitter user leaving a note on a Confederate flag-emblazoned pickup truck and gaining steam with the help of the guy whose “white power” video was retweeted by President Donald Trump.

The topic of Confederate symbols and nooses became a hotly-contested national dialogue over the past several weeks, and catapulted most recently by Trump’s decision to attack Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace over the noose that was found in his stall (it had been in the stall for months and was discovered and reported by a NASCAR official), and attacked the organization for banning the Confederate flag from events.

It was in this climate that a Twitter user named Chad who goes by the handle “Bazooka Tooth | BLM” spotted a pickup truck emblazoned with the Confederate flag, with a noose hanging in front of the tailgate. He posted a photo of the truck on Saturday, along with a “FUCK YOU” note that was placed under the truck’s windshield wiper.

Written in ballpoint pen on a sheet of spiral notebook paper with the ragged fringe still attached, the post serves double duty as anti-racist defiance, and as a cautionary photo essay on the need to carry a Sharpie and plain printer paper at all times.

But in a sign of our social media times, the story didn’t end there, and didn’t stay on Twitter. A TikTok user named Brady filmed his friend — who has since been identified as Colton Allen of Indiana — reacting to the note on the truck by sarcastically denying the intent of the noose.

“What are they hatin’ on, Mr. Colton?” Brady asks in the clip, after removing the note from the windshield and displaying it for the camera.

“I honestly don’t understand why they’re so upset,” Mr. Allen says with an exaggerated and befuddled lilt. “That’s my dog’s leash, I don’t know what they’re…”

“It’s just hanging there so if you need to fucking pull somebody out,” Brady contributes, then goes on to say “Not like it’d be a noose or anything, that’s racist.”

That TikTok video — which appears to have since been deleted — was then posted to Twitter by a user who recently and quite accidentally had a huge impact on national politics in a similar vein. This was the same account that posted video of a Trump supporter shouting “White Power!”, which was then shared by Trump in a post that he was reportedly pressured to delete several hours later.

And so it was that the original writer of the note became aware of the response from Allen.

At the time, Mr. Allen didn’t seem very concerned about concealing his identity, and so it was that another platform, Facebook, was used to identify him, and the pro-Trump messaging that has since been deleted with most of his posts.

Viral confrontations have become increasingly commonplace, especially ones involving racism, but the cross-pollination between platforms and the immediacy of the themes make this tale an especially compelling sign of the times — and one which still might not be over.

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