Police in Oregon are investigating how severed deer heads ended up next to Biden-Harris and Black Lives Matter signs

• Police in Lake Oswego, Oregon, are investigating how two severed deer heads ended up next to signs for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter in one neighborhood.
• The residents told local media they feel like they have been targeted, but police say they haven't yet ruled out the possibility that animals dragged the garbage bags to the homes.
• The incidents come after a string of viral incidents that appear to show attempts at voter intimidation by supporters of President Donald Trump in the days ahead of the presidential election Tuesday.

Police are investigating after two severed deer heads were found next to signs supporting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter at different locations in a Lake Oswego, Oregon, neighborhood.

Both decapitated deer heads were found on Thursday. One was reported at 9 a.m. by a Biden campaign sign and another just after 12 p.m. at a home with a Biden and Black Lives Matter sign, local police told Oregon Live.

"My family put up a Black Lives Matter sign on the front lawn two weeks ago. Sometime in the middle of the night, someone left a DECAPITATED deer head in a white garbage bag on our lawn right near the sign," a resident of the second house wrote in a Facebook post reported by KATU, a local ABC affiliate. "My mom did not even know the deer head was on our lawn until police came asking questions, but the threat is loud and clear."

Lake Oswego Police Sgt. Tom Hamann, though, said the department isn't comfortable classifying the events as "bias incidents" without more evidence.

"There are hunters in town and it is deer hunting season," he told Oregon Live. "They will often dispose of the deer heads after cleaning out the animals. Maybe someone disposed of it improperly and an animal got ahold of it."

"Considering how contentious everything is with the election and everything else, people are losing their minds about it and drawing conclusions," he told the outlet, adding that the department investigates all crimes the same way, even if they aren't considered to be motivated by hate.

Peggy Lant, who lives at one of the two homes where a deer head was found in a white trash bag, told Oregon Live that she feels as if her safety is gone. Lant also told the outlet she was concerned for the safety of her two teenage daughters, who are Asian American and have previously experienced racism at school.

"It's a horrifying incident," she said. "I feel like we've been really violated."

In the days leading to the election, there have been several reported attempts of voter intimidation by supporters of President Donald Trump. On October 24, a man at a rally in Beverly Hills, California, for Trump wielded a sword and threatened a woman passing by the crowd "to vote for Trump whether you like it or not."

The owner of a Colorado mobile home park sent letters to his tenants saying that he would double rent if Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election, KUSA-TV reported. Some residents of the park told the outlet the letter threatening consequences for the election's outcome felt like blatant voter intimidation.

A convoy of trucks bearing Trump flags forced the Biden campaign to cancel events in Texas four days out from the election when the group of vehicles surrounded Biden campaign buses on the road. The FBI announced an investigation into the incident, prompting Trump to defend his supporters.

"In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong," Trump wrote on Twitter in response to the investigation.

• Read more:
• 4 times Trump supporters have been accused of voter intimidation in 2020
• Biden campaign cancelled events in Texas after a convoy of trucks flying Trump flags surrounded their bus and ran into a person's car
• A Colorado trailer park owner says he'll raise his tenants' rent if Biden wins the election, or freeze it if Trump wins