Cop Car Found Torched In Florida With 'Black Lives Matter' Note: Police

Racial tensions may have led arsonists to torch a police car in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Sunday, authorities said.

The empty vehicle was parked outside a local mosque around 2:30 a.m. when it caught fire, according to Daytona Beach police. Authorities suspect the car was intentionally set ablaze because they found a note on the scene that referenced the Black Lives Matter movement and used explicit language to insult police.

Police said the vehicle was a “ghost car,” which is meant to be a crime deterrent, because some members of the city’s Islamic community had received death threats following the June 12 shooting in Orlando, Florida. The gunman in that attack, who was fatally shot by Orlando police, had pledged his allegiance to the self-described Islamic State militant group.

Daytona Beach officers found a handwritten note by the burned car that read: “Black Lives Matter A. Sterling P. Castile Fuck the police.”

Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, both black men, were fatally shot earlier this month by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively. Their deaths sparked outrage and ongoing protests around the country.

A spokeswoman for the Black Lives Matter movement told The Huffington Post in an email that the group does not encourage violence or the destruction of property.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said his department generally has “a pretty good relationship” with the citizens of the city, but that some people ― he described them as a “group of extremists” ― have been trying to drive a wedge between the police force and the community.

That divide was apparent just 24 hours before Sunday’s fire, when Chitwood said his officers responded to a shooting at a convenience store located about six blocks from the ghost car. There, Chitwood said his officers were met with hostility.

“People at the scene were screaming, ‘Fuck the police! Don’t talk to the police!’” Chitwood told HuffPost.

“Thank God everything was caught on video,” he said of the shooting, which left one man dead. There were only a few witnesses who agreed to speak with officers, Chitwood added.

Chitwood said he has run into that problem before, with witnesses in homicide cases reluctant to speak to the police. Many of the cases eventually go cold.

“Unfortunately, there are people who don’t belong being police officers,” he added, referring to officers who have abused their power. A number have been captured on camera, setting off public outrage and fueling the public’s distrust.

“I get it, I see those videos,” he said, “and it makes me question my profession.”

But he also mentioned that his department has received an outpouring of support after Sunday’s fire. “I will tell you, I’ve gotten over two dozen text messages and phone calls from our community,” he said.

The calls came from the NAACP, African-American residents and local pastors, Chitwood said.

“The governor called to say, ‘Please tell your officers that I support them. I’m praying for them,’” he added. “He didn’t have to do that.”

The Daytona Beach Police Department is currently reviewing video footage capturing Sunday’s incident, Chitwood said. The state fire marshal is also participating in the investigation.

This story has been updated to include Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood’s interview as well as the response from a Black Lives Matter spokeswoman.