'I'll Help You With It': NYC Butcher Gives Noose To Black Delivery Man As A 'Gift'

While O. Ottomanelli & Sons has been a permanent fixture in New York City's West Village for a century, its legacy may be forever tainted by the gift that one of its operators gave to a Black delivery driver. Joe Ottomanelli allegedly presented Victor Sheppard with a noose made from yellow rope along with an offer to help him use it on himself.

According to 36-year old Sheppard, Ottomanelli said, "If you ever have any stress, just put it around your neck and pull it. I could even help you with it." Then this idiot supposedly laughed. Ottomanelli told the New York Daily News that he was sorry and wanted to hug Sheppard. It was just a joke. "We were just fooling around," the 58-year old said. "We work with Black people. There's other Black drivers that come here. No, never... We weren't raised that way," he continued.

Yeah, yeah. And some of your best friends are Black. Heard it all before. But to Sheppard, this was no laughing matter. He's already called Al Sharpton and the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force has opened an investigation. Sheppard was really disturbed by the whole incident. He told Daily News, Ottomanelli presented the noose as a “gift.""I started shaking. He was laughing. I don't know what kind of joke that is," he told the New York Daily News. 

Sheppard also talked about how hurt he was that one of his regular clients would be so insensitive. "Mentally and emotionally, he's really hurt me. I felt very endangered, just doing my job," he explained.

Not surprisingly, Sheppard claims that Ottomanelli has made other racist comments over the 8-month period that he has delivered to the butcher shop. This might be the last time, though. New York Penal Law 485.05 specifies stiffer penalties when found guilty of hate crimes. These are classified as felonies which warrant prison time and may also require guilty parties to undergo counseling or training programs.

So he was just fooling around, huh? He thought that using a symbol of racism and White supremacy was somehow funny. Now he could go to prison for that ish. Wonder how hard Ottomanelli is laughing now?