A dummy dressed in a police uniform was found hanging from an overpass in Florida Saturday morning in what’s being described as an apparent mock lynching.
Calling what happened “extremely disturbing, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said officials believe the incident was ”depicting the mock lynching” of the mannequin, which was dressed in black pants and a blue shirt with a badge.
“Both the tactics and props used were a deliberate attempt to exasperate an anti-police sentiment and drive a divide in our community,” Williams said in a statement.
The people who hung the dummy want to undermine efforts to keep Jacksonville safe, the sheriff asserted.
“Too many good citizens are working with us to keep our community safe through active partnerships, and frank conversations about the challenges we all face,” he continued, adding, “This type of act will not be tolerated by our agency or our community, and we will work together to hold those responsible accountable.”
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department told The Epoch Times that first responders went to I-95 and 295 near Zoo Parkway on Saturday morning but declined to give more details.
Law enforcement officials said officers received a report of a potential suicide by hanging around 6:20 a.m. When officers arrived, they found it was actually a mannequin dressed in an NYPD uniform with a pig mask.
Detectives were processing the crime scene and processing the mannequin for DNA in an effort to identify persons of interest.
Anyone with information was asked to call the sheriff’s office at 904-630-0500 or via email at [email protected].
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