Breonna Taylor Statue in California Vandalized, Sculptor Calls Act ‘Racist Aggression’

A sculpture of Breonna Taylor in Oakland, California, was vandalized Saturday, just two weeks after it was first installed.

The creator of the bust said he created the work of art to support black lives.

“This vandalism is an act of racist aggression, and it shows why sculpture and art matters,” the sculptor, Leo Carson, told KQED. “I made this sculpture to support the Black Lives Matter movement, and while I’m overcome with rage and sadness at their cowardly act, their vandalism will make her even more potent.”

Taylor became the focal point of Black Lives Matter protests after white police officers fatally shot her in her Louisville, Kentucky, home in March 2020.

Further protests erupted across the country in September when a Kentucky grand jury announced its decision not to bring murder charges against any of the officers involved in Taylor’s death.

Oakland Police opened an investigation into the vandalism of the bust.

Carson had installed the sculpture, made out of clay, wood, concrete, and foam, in downtown Oakland on December 12, KTVU reported.

Carson said he did not file a police report and hopes to fix the sculpture.