Man charged with placing target at NAACP leader’s home
Published 11:09 am Wednesday, May 13, 2020
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NASHVILLE (AP) — Police in Tennessee have charged a man accused of placing a bullseye-like target in the front yard of Nashville’s NAACP president.
Roy E. Brown, 63, was charged with intimidation Monday, according to a Nashville Metro Police statement.
Brown allegedly told police he had known the NAACP leader, Rev. Keith Caldwell, for years and thought the target looked like a flower and would look nice in his yard, the agency said.
Surveillance video showed Brown placing the plastic bullseye, which was from a backyard archery play-set designed for children, in Caldwell’s yard Saturday evening, investigators said.
Caldwell told The Tennessean over the weekend that he viewed the target as “an act of intimidation,” but in a Facebook post Monday he said it no longer appeared the act was racially-motivated.
Caldwell said he would advocate for Brown’s case to be heard in mental health court.
The NAACP leader called police after finding the target Saturday, and posted shortly afterward that the responding officer who arrived at his home was “flippant” about the matter. Caldwell wrote that he had voiced concerns that the act was a threat to him and his family, and the officer responded that he thought the target “was pretty cool.”
The police department has since taken the issue seriously, Caldwell later said. Metro police added Monday that Caldwell and the officer are set to discuss their encounter in a mediation session at the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center.
