Breonna Taylor Bust Lasts 2 Weeks

Artist Leo Carson says he'll rebuild in bronze after statue vandalized
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2020 6:27 AM CST
Artist Describes 'Racist Attack' on Breonna Taylor Bust
The bust of Breonna Taylor was found smashed in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday.   (GoFundMe)

A bust of Breonna Taylor has been found smashed in Oakland, Calif., a mere two weeks after its installation. The artist who created the ceramic bust, placed over a plaque reading, "Say her name: Breonna Taylor," said it was "a racist attack on the Black Lives Matter movement," per USA Today. Leo Carson had installed the bust at Latham Square near City Hall on Dec. 12 to support the movement. He believes the culprits who chipped the face of the bust and removed chunks from the back and side sometime before Saturday were trying "to add intimidation and to silence people who are trying to support Black lives and grow the movement for racial justice."

"The reality is that they had the opposite effect," adds Carson, who intends to recreate the bust in bronze to "make it more durable and more lasting than it ever was, and to make Breonna's name more alive." He's already raised more than $12,000 of a $5,000 goal on GoFundMe. Any remaining funds will go to the family of Taylor, whose death at the hands of Kentucky police in March helped power the movement for racial justice, per CNN. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf echoed Carson, calling the incident "a vicious attack against the light + justice sought in Breonna Taylor's name." "Oakland will not tolerate acts of hatred," she added. Oakland police are investigating this as an act of vandalism, per USA Today. (More Breonna Taylor stories.)

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