ROCHESTER, Pa. — A Rochester neighborhood is expressing outrage after a video on social media appears to show a man tying and hanging a Black baby doll to a rope in his backyard.
The viewer sent the video to Channel 11 and said when neighbors contacted police, they were told there was little authorities could do.
Channel 11 shared the video with a borough council member, Sam Piccinini, who says no laws were broken and called the situation trivial.
Piccinini, a retired police officer who now serves as a Rochester council member, says police did respond to the complaint.
“To say that the police did nothing is uncomfortable with me because the police do answer calls and just because there isn’t anything that the police can do doesn’t mean that the police did nothing,” Piccinini said.
He says borough leaders have discussed the homeowner at several council meetings after previous complaints from neighbors.
Piccinini also says officers spoke with the homeowner about the doll.
“They approached him and they told him that it upset the neighbor and they asked him to take it down and he complied,” he said.
Neighbors who spoke off camera say the image carries a long and violent history tied to racism.
They say children frequently walk past the home and worry the display sends a message of hatred aimed at their families.
Piccinini says while people may find the situation offensive, there is little authorities can do beyond responding to complaints.
“You can say all you want because it was a dark skin baby doll. It wasn’t like he was out there trying to propagate hate from his daughter and coaching her to hit this doll,” he said.
He also believes residents should focus on more serious issues in the borough.
“I think they should be more upset over somebody getting shot in the head 11 times three blocks away. This is trivial,” Piccinini said.
Neighbors now say they want borough officials to hold the homeowner accountable and are calling for the incident to be investigated as a hate crime.
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