Actress Alyssa Milano, who has voiced support for the “defund the police movement,” has defended herself against “trolls” after emergency services were called to her home following reports of a man with a gun.
Milano has backed calls for police budgets to be reduced in the wake of George Floyd’s death in custody in May.
The former Charmed star was accused of hypocrisy on social media after officers were called to her home in Bell Canyon, Southern California, on Sunday.
Apparently, rightwing media & trolls have decided that they should target me because my neighbor called the police after seeing a person dressed in black holding a rifle behind my home where I live with my young children and husband. Here is my statement and what really happened. pic.twitter.com/RwnSd9XCs0
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 22, 2020
She has now confirmed her husband made the call and said the armed man turned out to be someone hunting squirrels. He later apologised for the commotion, according to Milano.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department confirmed no-one had been charged in relation to the incident.
In a statement, Milano said she and her husband, talent manager David Bugliari, were getting ready to watch a sports game when a neighbour spotted a “man dressed in all black, walking in the woods between our properties with a gun”.
She added: “As that is a rare sight in our parts, the neighbour was understandably alarmed and she called the police.”
Milano, a 47-year-old mother-of-two, said she received a call “alerting us to the potential situation and that officers had been dispatched”.
Her husband then called back to check when police would be arriving, according to Milano.
She praised the police response and said: “These are exactly the type of situations that police officers are trained for and should be responding to, and we will always support police having the resources they need for appropriate policing actions.”
Milano added that she believes “equally trained non-police professionals” should respond to “addiction and mental health crises and non-violent events”.
The actress and activist, whose TV roles include Melrose Place and Insatiable, hit out at “rightwing media & trolls” as she shared her statement on Twitter.
The “defund the police” movement calls for reform of police budgets, with funds allocated elsewhere.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says money could be better spent on services including “job training, counselling and violence-prevention programmes”.