Vandalism of BLM mural called “horribly painful”
By Alani Letang
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SANTA CRUZ, California (KSBW) — Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills and Santa Cruz Mayor Donna Meyers hosted a community meeting Sunday, following the vandalism of the Black Live Matter mural downtown.
One community member said, “This is not an isolated event. And it’s not about some young kids having racist thoughts doing a thing. They have a community.”
“This is actual an act of violence. It’s psychological damage,” said Abi Mustapha, Santa Cruz Black Lives mural artist.
Emotions of anger, sadness and frustration poured out with people in Santa Cruz after two men vandalized the mural on Center Street.
“It’s horribly painful. It’s emotional. It makes me mad more than sad. I’m sad for them because it’s such a waste of their energy and time,” Mustapha said.
“We did the work to get it approved legally. If these kids disagreed they could’ve done the work to bring their opinions to the floor. And that is what is so frustrating, we learned to jump through hoops and they can do whatever they want,” the artist said.
Mustapha, along with more than 500 volunteers, painted the mural in 2019. It got a fresh coat of paint in June.
City leaders on Sunday also felt emotional about the vandalism and promised to bring justice.
“There is emotional, psychological, and just in my soul damage,” said Sonja Brunner, the Santa Cruz Vice Mayor.
Santa Cruz Mayor Donna Meyers added, “The city will throw all the resources needed to right this wrong. As I stand here I’m started to shake more and more, and it breaks my heart.”
The vandalism call came into police Saturday morning. An investigation led police to arrest 20-year-old Brandon Bochat and 19-year-old Hagan Warner for taking turns driving over, and damaging the mural. They are charged with felony vandalism and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Police said they are still looking for two other people involved.
“Let’s face it, of the 5,000 plus streets segments in our city, that was the only one. We can see what took place here,” said Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills.
“For those who seek to minimize the events that took place, to negate the responsibility of ‘they are just kids fooling around.’ Shame on you. This was meaningful to this community,” Mills added.
Some people in the community are ready to help heal.
“This is a white person problem to fix. And I see it as my obligation and responsibility. This is a choice I have to make, given the history of my community, to stand up and lean in to support all of the people in our community,” said Debra Feldstein, a resident of Santa Cruz.
The city said it’s working on a timeline for when the mural will be fixed.
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