Since being publically displayed, a bust of Breonna Taylor has been broken.
What We Know:
- On Saturday, a ceramic sculpture of a smiling Breonna Taylor with a “Say her name” plaque was vandalized and broken into pieces. The bust was installed in downtown Oakland near City Hall just two weeks prior to the incident.
- Leo Carson, the artist who created the bust to uplift protestors, found out about the vandalism via Instagram. He told CNN that he received an Instagram message from a follower with an image of the bust smashed into pieces. Carson is calling the crime “an act of racist aggression aimed at suppressing the fight for Black freedom.”
- Carson, however, does not intend to let the vandals win. He has since started a GoFundMe page to recreate Taylor’s image in bronze. Donations for the project have already surpassed the $5,000 goal. Carson stated that the remainder of the funds would be given to Taylor’s family.
- Breonna Taylor was a black emergency medical technician who was shot and killed during a botched police raid in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. Her case regained national attention following last summer’s various demonstrations against racism and police brutality that erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd.
Police have launched an investigation into the act but have not identified any suspects or motive.
