Vandals have targeted the former home of a witness who testified in Derek Chauvin’s defence in the trial of the killing of George Floyd.
Police were called after a group of people dressed in black sprayed the property with blood and dumped a pig’s head on the porch at around 3am on Saturday.
The house in west Santa Rosa, California used to belong to use-of-force expert Barry Brodd who took to the stand in the Derek Chauvin trial last week.
Barry Brodd told the court Derek Chauvin acted reasonably in the circumstances. Pic: AP
Mr Brodd said former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was following his training when he knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck last year.
He said police were justified in keeping Mr Floyd pinned because he kept struggling instead of “resting comfortably”.
George Floyd died in May last year after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes – despite repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe, with video of the incident sparking protests around the world.
The house was a previous residence of Mr Barry Brodd. Pic: Santa Rosa Police
Santa Rosa Police confirmed the vandalised house previously belonged to Mr Brodd – a former police officer in California – and that it appeared he was the target because of his testimony.
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Detectives added that the vandalism to the victim’s house exceeded $400 (£288) making the crime felony vandalism.
Around 45 minutes later, a large hand statue in front of the Santa Rosa Plaza mall was vandalised with a similar substance, suspected to be animal blood.
A large hand statue was vandalised with a similar substance. Pic: Santa Rosa Police
The suspects also left a sign in front of the statue which had a picture of a pig and read “Oink Oink”.
Police said the suspects seen fleeing the area matched the descriptions of the suspects who vandalised the house.
Santa Rosa Police Chief Rainer Navarro previously said Mr Brodd’s testimony did not “reflect the values and beliefs of the Santa Rosa Police Department”.
Closing arguments in the George Floyd murder trial are set to begin in Minneapolis this afternoon.
The 12 jurors will hear a final appeal from lawyers on both sides before they sequester to determine a verdict.