NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville head of the NAACP said a police officer who responded to his home after a bullseye-like target appeared in his front yard dismissed his concerns.
Nashville NAACP President Keith Caldwell said in a Facebook post that he found the "bullseye" target on an easel-like holder on his front yard on Saturday night. After Caldwell called the city's non-emergency police number to file a report, he said the responding officer who arrived at his home was "flippant" about the matter.
After Caldwell told the officer that he was concerned the target was a threat to him and his family, Caldwell said the officer responded by saying that he thought the target “was pretty cool.”
"It felt like to me that he really, he didn't care," Caldwell told WKRN-TV. After speaking with the officer, Caldwell said he then called the officer's supervisor.
I know that it's an act of intimidation," Caldwell told The Tennessean.
“The fact is that I am a black man, and I am outspoken, and I am the president of the NAACP," Caldwell said. “And I’ve said a lot of things that someone who wants to keep people oppressed don’t like.”
Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement Sunday that the target was from a backyard archery and tomahawk play set designed for children.
They added that Caldwell is also concerned the target might have been placed in his yard "due to a dispute a member of his family is having with another individual,” the police statement said. The case is being investigated as an incident of intimidation.
Caldwell said the police department has been taking the issue seriously after the responding officer declined to file a police report about the matter.
“I don’t want to paint the entire police department as a reflection of this one officer,” Caldwell told WKRN-TV.
The interaction between Caldwell and the responding officer is “under review,” police said in their statement.
Caldwell has been the president of the Nashville NAACP since 2018.
