Merck condemns ‘racial hatred’ after 2nd noose found at Durham vaccine plant

Merck and local authorities are investigating after a second noose was found on a construction site at the company’s Durham vaccine plant.

The pharmaceutical company, which has a 262-acre facility in north Durham, said it was “outraged that symbols of hate have been found in construction areas” at the plant.

“We have zero tolerance for hate, racism or discrimination,” Merck said in a statement to The News & Observer on Monday. “We condemn all forms of racial hatred.”

Nooses have long been used to frighten and intimidate Black people in the U.S., a symbol of lynchings that killed thousands of people.

Nooses found two weeks apart

Plant management notified employees of the first noose just over a week ago, The N&O previously reported.

“Actions such as these will NOT be tolerated and individuals found committing such acts will be dealt with swiftly and severely,” site management said in an email to employees. “As a leadership team, we are disgusted that anyone on our plant site would engage in such behavior.”

A Merck spokesman did not respond at the time when asked whether local authorities had been involved.

The second noose was reported to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office last week, according to an incident report obtained by The N&O.

The two nooses were found May 24 and June 7, the report said.

The first of these was not reported to the company until May 27, according to the report. It was not reported to security until June 3.

David Bowser, a spokesman for the Durham sheriff’s office, said Monday there was “insufficient evidence to determine whether this incident was motivated by bias or hate.”

He added investigators have not found any witnesses with information about what happened, and that the investigation is ongoing.

In an email last week, Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier and President Rob Davis notified staff about the two nooses.

“Merck leaders are meeting with employees at the site to provide support, and to emphasize our zero-tolerance policy,” Frazier and Davis wrote in the email, according to a copy obtained by The N&O. “We also have put enhanced safety and security measures in place to protect our employees in Durham.”

The company did not respond to a request for more information about those measures.

Merck’s Durham plant was one of two selected to help manufacture the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year.

The federal government committed $105.4 million in March to outfit the Durham plant for the production of the vaccine, The N&O previously reported.

This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 12:19 PM.