California police have arrested three women accused of vandalizing the former home of a retired police officer with a pig’s head and blood smear last month after the officer testified on behalf of Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd murder trial.
The Santa Rosa police department said that it appeared the “suspects in this vandalism were targeting” the retired officer, Barry Brodd, for his testimony, in which he said Chauvin was justified in his use of force. Brodd is no longer a California resident and has not lived in the home for years, so it “appears the victim was falsely targeted,” authorities said.
Police arrested Rowan Dalbey, 20; Kristen Aumoithe, 34 and Amber Lucas, 35, on May 11, according to the Sacramento Bee. Authorities said all three were charged with conspiracy and felony counts of vandalism and booked into jail.
The women also allegedly threw blood on a hand statue in front of the Santa Rosa Plaza mall and left a sign that said “oink oink” with a picture of a pig, according to police.
Authorities suspect more people were involved and have asked for help in identifying them, according to the report.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The former Santa Rosa police officer testified that it is “easy to sit and judge … an officer’s conduct.”
“It’s more of a challenge to, again, put yourself in the officer’s shoes to try to make an evaluation through what they’re feeling, what they’re sensing, the fear they have, and then make a determination,” he said.
Brodd compared Floyd’s death to a case in which officers use a Taser on someone and the suspect then falls, hits his head and dies.
“That isn’t an incident of deadly force. That’s an incident of an accidental death,” he argued.
Chief Rainer Navarro, the Santa Rosa police chief, said in a statement last month that Brodd’s comments “do not reflect the values and beliefs” of his department, according to the Associated Press.
The former police officer is seen in a video of the arrest kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, persisting even after he became unconscious.
Chauvin’s attorneys had put forth three unsuccessful arguments for acquitting the former officer: that Floyd’s death was the result of drug and health problems, that Chauvin’s use of force was appropriate and that a hostile crowd of bystanders distracted the officer.
Chauvin is set to be sentenced on June 25.