The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating, after a mannequin wearing a New York Police Department uniform and a pig mask was found hanging from an I-95 overpass there on Saturday morning.
The call came in as a possible suicide by hanging, according to the sheriff’s office.
Crime scene detectives are processing the scene and the mannequin for DNA.
“Our goal at this point is to identify persons of interest for the sake of, most importantly, the members of our community and for officer safety,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “We are thankful that this was not a real person.”
Happening now @JSOPIO and @JFRDJAX on scene after a Mannequin dressed as a police officer along I-95 was discovered hanging from the over pass @FCN2go has a crew on the scene and will be working for more details throughout the day pic.twitter.com/zgSaJb8zFG
— Joe (@tvjoe12) June 20, 2020
In addition, Sheriff Mike Williams released the following statement regarding the incident:
“The incident that occurred this morning depicting the mock lynching of a mannequin dressed in what appeared to be the uniform of a law enforcement officer is extremely disturbing.
Both the tactics and props used were a deliberate attempt to exasperate an anti-police sentiment and drive a divide in our community.
This incident was carried out by people wanting to undermine our dedicated efforts to keep our city safe.
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. This type of act will not be tolerated by our agency or our community, and we will work together to hold those responsible accountable.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact CrimeStoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.