The clay took several months for a Bay Area sculptor to mold with his hands an image of Breonna Taylor, which he finished with a dark brown satin enamel.
But less than two weeks after the statue in honor of Taylor was installed in a busy square in downtown Oakland, California, its creator, Leo Carson, said he held the broken pieces of the vandalized ceramic bust in the same hands.
The sculpture was destroyed in several places at the end of last week, drawing widespread condemnation in the community and leading to a police investigation.
Vandalism was considered another indignity for those still fighting the murder of Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman and emergency technician, by police in Louisville, Ky., During an unsuccessful anti-drug operation in March. Taylor’s death, along with the assassination of George Floyd in late May, sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
A plaque with Mrs. Taylor’s name and the phrase “Say her name” was displayed in front of the statue that was vandalized in Latham Square, which is near Oakland City Hall.
“I built it to support the Black Lives Matter movement,” Carson said in an interview Monday night, “but it also makes it a target for racist aggression.”
An Oakland Police Department spokeswoman said in an email late Monday that a police report had been made on the matter and that the vandalism was being investigated.
Carson, 30, who is white, said he spent about $ 600 to make the sculpture, which he put on the square on December 12. He narrated the installation on Instagram, which a person warned at the time that he could suffer an adverse reaction. “Put it down,” wrote the person, “it’s a source of turmoil.”
Carson, who made trips to the Home Depot and a pottery studio while making the sculpture, said he was prepared for the possibility of the facility being damaged.
“It was always on my mind,” he said. “I had a feeling I needed to do this anyway. It didn’t matter. “
Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland denounced the vandalism in a Twitter post on Monday.
“It is a cruel attack on the light + justice sought in the name of Breonna Taylor,” wrote Schaaf. “Let’s move on; Oakland does not tolerate acts of hatred. “
Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, also condemned the damage to the sculpture.
“This act of vandalism disrespects Breonna’s memory, what she represents and the work of this artist,” Greenblatt said on Twitter on Monday.
Carson said the demonstration of support from the community was encouraging and that he raised about $ 8,000 on a GoFundMe page to build a new bronze sculpture. He said he planned to donate the remaining funds to Taylor’s family.
The three police officers implicated in Taylor’s death avoided charges of murder in September, starting a new round of protests across the country. A grand jury in Louisville appointed a police officer, who was fired, on three charges of arbitrary danger.
Carson said someone on Instagram told him about the weekend vandalism.
“In that sense, it’s not surprising,” he said, “but it doesn’t reflect Oakland.”
The sculptor said he went quickly to check the sculpture so he could recover the broken pieces, which he said would be repaired and eventually used in the mold for the bronze sculpture.
“It gives her a sense of integrity again,” he said.