Former Home of Chauvin Defense Witness Vandalized With Severed Pig’s Head, Splattered Blood

Photo by Nick Saltmarsh via Flickr.

The residents of a California house previously owned by a defense witness in the Derek Chauvin trial were awoken in the middle of the night to a horrifying scene: a severed pig’s head on their front porch and pig’s blood splattered across the garage and front of the home, according to a report by the Washington Post.

A key issue in Chauvin’s trial for the death of George Floyd is whether the officer’s use of force as he and three other Minneapolis police officers arrested and restrained Floyd was reasonable. Bystander videos of Floyd’s arrest went viral showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, including a period of time after Floyd had lost consciousness and was found to be without a pulse.

Retired Santa Rosa police officer Barry Brodd testified for the defense that he believed that Chauvin’s use of force was proper and compliant with police procedures.

Brodd formerly lived in the home that was vandalized, located in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco. It is believed that the location was targeted by mistake, with the perpetrators not knowing that Brodd had moved away several years ago.

“It appears the suspects in this vandalism were targeting Mr. Brodd for his testimony,” the Santa Rosa Police Department said in a statement released to media. “Mr. Brodd has not lived at the residence for a number of years and is no longer a resident of California.”

Officers responded to the scene around 3 a.m. PT Saturday morning.

Investigators believe the vandalism is connected to another incident in the area, in which blood was smeared on a statue in nearby Santa Rosa Plaza and a sign that said “Oink, oink” was left behind.

So far, no arrests have been announced.