Florida authorities have launched an investigation after police called to the site of an apparent hanging discovered a mannequin wearing a pig mask and cop uniform.
The sinister dummy was found dangling from an overpass on the I-95 in Jacksonville on Saturday.
Officers arriving on the scene around 6am were greeted not by the grisly suicide they were expecting but rather by a mannequin attired in an NYPD uniform.
The dummy cop was also wearing a pig mask and had “KKK” scrawled on it, KHQ reported.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams called “the mock lynching” “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,” he said. “This incident was carried out by people wanting to undermine our dedicated efforts to keep our city safe.”
Williams pledged to work with the community to hold those responsible accountable.
Sgt. Bruce Baker expressed relief that officers hadn’t found a real body but also emphasized the importance of keeping their officers safe.
“Our goal at this point is to identify persons of interest for, most importantly, the safety of the members of the community and for our officers’ safety as well,” Baker told KHQ.
‘We are thankful this was not a real person. Anyone who has any information on who may be responsible for this is encouraged to call our partners at crimestoppers.’
Mayor Lenny Curry tweeted that he wouldn’t let “an appalling and disturbing act like this derail our progress.”