A new sculpture of Breonna Taylor in downtown Oakland, California, was smashed to chunks over the weekend, and police are investigating it as an act of vandalism.
The bust of Taylor, a woman whose fatal shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, in March was prompted by her boyfriend shooting a policeman, had been installed only two weeks earlier in Oakland's Latham Square.
Leo Carson, who sculpted the bust, said that he has visited the square since the work was found defaced on Saturday and related the destruction to that of racists tearing down statues of White historical figures.
"Art matters, and these vandals know it," Carson said.
Paul Chambers, an Oakland police spokesman, confirmed Monday that the incident is considered vandalism.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed by police returning gun fire after her boyfried shot a policeman during a police raid on her apartment. After examining the evidence, a grand jury in September declined to charge the policemen in her death.
A new sculpture of Breonna Taylor in downtown Oakland, California, was smashed to chunks over the weekend, and police are investigating it as an act of vandalism.
The bust of Taylor, a woman whose fatal shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, in March was prompted by her boyfriend shooting a policeman, had been installed only two weeks earlier in Oakland's Latham Square.
Leo Carson, who sculpted the bust, said that he has visited the square since the work was found defaced on Saturday and related the destruction to that of racists tearing down statues of White historical figures.
"Art matters, and these vandals know it," Carson said.
Paul Chambers, an Oakland police spokesman, confirmed Monday that the incident is considered vandalism.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed by police returning gun fire after her boyfried shot a policeman during a police raid on her apartment. After examining the evidence, a grand jury in September declined to charge the policemen in her death.
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