The ceramic bust, depicting a smiling Taylor, was installed in downtown Oakland near City Hall. The bust was attached to a base with a plaque that read “Say her name: Breonna Taylor.”
But on Saturday, just two weeks after installation, the statue was found in pieces. Pieces of the back and side of the bust were missing and parts of Taylor’s ceramic face were chipped.
Oakland police have confirmed to CNN that it is investigating vandalism, although it has not identified any possible suspects or motives.
Leo Carson, the artist who created the bust, told CNN he considers it “an act of racist aggression aimed at suppressing the fight for black freedom.”
He discovered the bust was damaged in an Instagram post, he said, when a follower sent him an image of the broken pieces.
The act of vandalism was an insult to Carson’s motivation behind the bust, which he said he had designed to “cheer and encourage protesters” as they gather in downtown Oakland to organize against racism and injustice, said he to CNN.
To avoid future damage to the Taylor bust, Carson plans to rebuild it in bronze with donations from the GoFundMe page, which has already surpassed the $ 5,000 goal.
“The vandals wanted to intimidate and silence the Black Lives Matter movement, and this is a demonstration that there are few and thousands of us,” Carson said of achieving his goal of raising money.
Any remaining funds will be donated to Taylor’s family, Carson wrote on the fundraising platform.