'Act of racist aggression': Breonna Taylor bust vandalized in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) - The search is on to find whoever destroyed a sculpture honoring Breonna Taylor.

She's the Kentucky woman killed in her home, earlier this year by police in Louisville.

The sculpture was put up just two weeks ago in downtown Oakland and was broken into pieces this weekend.

This definitely has been upsetting not only for the sculptor but others who are advocates for the black lives matter movement.

This bust was designed to be a symbol against injustice and now the sculptor is planning to rebuild it and make it stronger than before.

Chunks of ceramic chipped away from a bust of Breonna Taylor.

The sculpture in the middle of downtown Oakland found hacked to pieces just days after Christmas.

“I think it was an act of racist aggression,” Leo Carson said. 

Sculptor Leo Carson put together the piece to honor the Black Lives Matter movement.

The bust serves as a tribute to Taylor who was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky during a botched raid earlier this year.

After months of carving and shaping, Carson's artwork was installed in Latham Square on December 12th. Weeks later, it was vandalized.

“The attack on the sculpture was you know in some ways it felt like a personal attack because I put so much work and effort and so much of my self into it but far more important than that was it was an attack on Breonna Taylor herself and on the Black Lives Matter movement,” Carson said. 

News of the destroyed bust drew people downtown Sunday afternoon.

Jodi-Ann Burey says the vandalism is a chilling example of how Black women are viewed and treated in America.

“The attacks are not gonna stop. It's up to the community, it's up to our society and it's up to us to protect this statue and protect Black women,” Burey said.

Others say this defacement should not be tolerated in Oakland.

“It's really upsetting and I'm trying to imagine who would come out here and do such a thing? Who would feel so threatened by something dedicated to her? I'm really hoping that it's not someone from Oakland,” a resident said.

Carson salvaged the broken pieces to use in rebuilding the bust.

The next step is to make it stronger than before.

“I have just started a GoFundMe to cast it in bronze to repair it and to repair it and to reinstall it in bronze so that this couldn't happen again,” Carson said.

The GoFundMe page has a goal of raising $5,000 to reinstall the bust in bronze.

Any funds over the cost, Carson says will be donated to Breonna Taylor's family.

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