The search is on to find whomever destroyed a sculpture honoring Breonna Taylor, the woman killed by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home earlier this year.
The sculpture was put up just two weeks ago in Oakland, California and was broken into pieces this weekend.
“I think it was an act of racist aggression,” said Leo Carson, the bust’s sculptor, who designed the art piece to be a symbol against injustice and to honor the Black Lives Matter movement.
After months of carving and shaping, Carson’s artwork was installed in Downtown Oakland on December 12th.
“The attack on the sculpture was … in some ways it felt like a personal attack because I put so much work and effort and so much of myself into it,” Carson said. “But far more important than that was it was an attack on Breonna Taylor herself and on the Black Lives Matter movement.”
News of the destroyed bust drew people downtown Sunday afternoon.
Jodi-Ann Burey says the vandalism is a chilling example of how Black women are viewed and treated in America.
“The attacks are not gonna stop. It’s up to the community, it’s up to our society and it’s up to us to protect this statue and protect Black women,” Burey said.
Others say this defacement should not be tolerated in Oakland.
“It’s really upsetting, and I’m trying to imagine who would come out here and do such a thing? Who would feel so threatened by something dedicated to her? I’m really hoping that it’s not someone from Oakland,” a resident said.
Carson salvaged the broken pieces to use in rebuilding the bust. The next step is to make it stronger than before.
“I have just started a GoFundMe to cast it in bronze to repair it and to reinstall it in bronze so that this couldn’t happen again,” Carson said.
The GoFundMe page has a goal of raising $5,000 to reinstall the bust in bronze. Carson says any funds over the cost will be donated to Breonna Taylor’s family.