Vandals threw a pig’s head at the home of a former California police officer who was a defense witness for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer accused of killing George Floyd, police said.
The incident took place early Saturday in Santa Rosa, California, in a home where witness Barry Brodd lived, Santa Rosa police said in a statement.
Police said Brodd was apparently targeted over his testimony.
“Mr. Brodd has not lived in the residence for a number of years and is no longer a resident of California,” police said. ‘Because Mr. Brodd no longer lives in the city of Santa Rosa, it appears the victim was falsely targeted. ‘
A person at the home found the head on the front porch that was splashed with blood. People dressed in black fled when the person called 911, police said.
The same people allegedly soaked about 45 minutes later a statue in a mall with animal blood and left a sign that read, “Oink Oink,” police said. They are charged with vandalism and have not been identified.
Santa Rosa Police Chief Rainer Navarro distanced his department from Brodd’s testimony and said in a statement last week that Brodd had not worked in the city since 2004 and that his comments “did not reflect the values and beliefs of Santa Rosa police station does not reflect. “
In his testimony, Brodd compared the neck control Chauvin used on Floyd for more than 9 minutes to an officer firing a stun gun at a suspect who fell, hit his head and died.
“This is not an incident of lethal violence,” Brodd was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. “It’s an accident.”
Witnesses for prosecutors, who charged Chauvin with second-degree murder and other crimes, said Floyd died of oxygen after Chauvin pinned him to the ground for a long time.