Stolen Jackie Robinson statue found burned, dismantled in trash can: Police
Source: ABC News
January 30, 2024, 1:22 PM
A statue of baseball legend Jackie Robinson stolen from a Kansas park was found dismantled and burned in a trash can fire Tuesday morning in what authorities called a "disgraceful" act, as the search for the perpetrators continues.
The statue was taken from McAdams Park in Wichita last week. Surveillance video captured individuals entering Jackie Robinson Pavilion around midnight on Thursday, removing the statue and placing it in a pickup truck. They cut off the statue at the ankles, leaving behind only Robinson's feet, with damages estimated to be around $75,000.
Around 8:38 a.m. local time on Tuesday, the Wichita Fire Department responded to a report of a trash can fire at Garvey Park, according to Wichita police spokesperson Andrew Ford. After extinguishing the fire, they found what appeared to be pieces of the Robinson statue, "which is not salvageable at this time," Ford told reporters during a press briefing Tuesday.
The Wichita Fire Department is investigating the arson, while police continue to investigate the theft, Ford said. "It's really disheartening to see the remnants of the statue, the disgraceful way it's been disrespected," Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said during the briefing. "This is a direct indication of the pressure our investigators are putting on the perpetrators that committed this act." Sullivan urged those involved in any way to turn themselves in.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/stolen-jackie-robinson-statue-wichita-kansas-found/story?id=106797999
Reference - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143185188
Vinca
(50,273 posts)What stupid people. They were probably going to melt it down and sell it for scrap, but they were even too dumb to do that.
leftieNanner
(15,114 posts)They wanted to destroy a black hero.
That's the way I read it.
ShazzieB
(16,412 posts)peppertree
(21,636 posts)Attilatheblond
(2,183 posts)Not just pathetic racist rage, but IMPOTENT pathetic racist rage. Very small, pathetic racists.
czarjak
(11,278 posts)So...
leftieNanner
(15,114 posts)And Nikki Haley said that too.
Traildogbob
(8,746 posts)Ask Haley, what was the cause of this destruction? Watch and time her pause, before she says we are not. Racist country.
NoRethugFriends
(2,313 posts)It's racists being racist.
70sEraVet
(3,503 posts)I had wondered if they can hit the perps with a hate crime, rather than focusing on the monetary value. But i don't know if you could get hate crime charges over damage done to a statue.
Vinca
(50,273 posts)saying the statue should be valued higher than $75,000. Racism isn't coming into my thinking at all when I look at a well done sculpture and assess its worth.
FSogol
(45,488 posts)rurallib
(62,416 posts)So I am betting it will only take about a week to nab them.
They are probably bragging about it online by now.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(1,962 posts)to include a photo of the damaged statue as proof of their work.
Harker
(14,019 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)Fucking nazi's.
LiberalFighter
(50,942 posts)Botany
(70,510 posts)
.. being scum. Jackies statue will be back up by the start of baseball season and parents, teachers,
families, friends, and ball players will tell a new generation of young people the story of Jackies courage , racism, and that we all are just human beings who are all out of the Great Rift Valley in east central
Africa.
Deuxcents
(16,234 posts)Botany
(70,510 posts)
the crap he had to take by the parents, grandparents, or great grandparents of future
Trump voters. This act of ignorance just elevates Jackies greatness.
Deuxcents
(16,234 posts)Think. Again.
(8,160 posts)...the statue not only replaced, but installed with an even more prominent memorial plaque specifically detailing the extraordinary achievement of a black man achieving such success at that time in our very racist American history.
If there's a gofundme or fundraiser for anything like that, I will gladly contribute.
mopinko
(70,112 posts)there might even b molds out there, so it cd be recreated exactly w/o a ton of expense.
BumRushDaShow
(129,053 posts)He apparently crafted it "by hand" so am not sure if he ever did a full mold cast of it.
His obit - https://www.kansas.com/news/local/news-local-obituaries/article262969568.html
orleans
(34,053 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,053 posts)Thank you!
orleans
(34,053 posts)"Lutz, the nonprofit director, said there will be a new statue installed that will look exactly like the old one, which was made by his friend, the artist John Parsons, before his death. He said the mold is still viable and anticipated that a replacement could be erected within a matter of months."
https://abc7chicago.com/statue-of-jackie-robinson-stolen-wichita-kansas/14372791/#:~:text=He's%20considered%20not%20only%20a,John%20Parsons%2C%20before%20his%20death.
(might be the same link in the op -- but i googled)
mopinko
(70,112 posts)man, so many artists stuff just gets chucked when they pass. thats a pretty good chunk of real estate. so glad he had a friend who cd do that.
Think. Again.
(8,160 posts)...I googled "League 42", which is the non-profit organization that runs the youth baseball league at McAdams Park where the statue was stolen from.
From league42.org:
"League 42, named in honor of the great Jackie Robinson, the first African-American in Major League Baseball, is a youth baseball league comprised primarily of urban children ages 5 14. McAdams Park at 17th & Wabash (I-135 & 13th Street area) is home to the League and where we play our games. Practices are held at McAdams, too, as well as other baseball fields across the city."
On their webpage league42.org there is a link to facebook page about a fundraiser to help replace the statue: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgofund.me%2F35084f68&h=AT2yQ3vVoWE5d8H68LWxoUEbog8WGkoX7LlPCp_JVXdC7tFKZNBQgkxRmqI1dnkHhg0Z9SD_CYr-T_WToo1ARYAc6KSdvRB4phlKi-AEqIQiUXEh-Z_5Ix5UXYEUYykp&s=1
I do not do facebook, but I am going to donate directly to the general fund of League42 at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=NXHW8MQTY6L24
rickford66
(5,523 posts)et tu
(874 posts)many many many jackies- he is still fighting racism
lastlib
(23,239 posts)was MULTIPLE statues of Jackie, placed all over the city and state!
COL Mustard
(5,897 posts)If the mold still exists, maybe.
Think. Again.
(8,160 posts)COL Mustard
(5,897 posts)I hadn't seen those. Sometimes reading comprehension is just a suggestion.
bucolic_frolic
(43,173 posts)AllaN01Bear
(18,242 posts)orleans
(34,053 posts)perpetrators: "oh, okay"
Sneederbunk
(14,291 posts)Aristus
(66,380 posts)n/t
Thunderbeast
(3,413 posts)Many historic statues of white men were toppled in the wake of the George Floyd disturbances... An act I think was wrong.
One of the destroyed statues was of Publisher Harvey Scott.. a racist product of his time.
A few months later, a guerilla artist placed a beautiful bust on the plinth atop Mt. Tabor. It was a beautiful painted plaster sculpture of York, a slave that traveled with the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. Most of the community immediately fell in love with the beautiful portrail of who may have been the first African to visit the west coast.
Some, however, were angry at the replacement of a white pioneer with a black explorer. The plinth was defaced with spray paint. One night, vandals destroyed the sculpture completely. The pedestal now stands empty as public art stewards debate the appropriate action.
https://www.opb.org/article/2021/07/28/portland-york-art-mt-tabor-racism/
FakeNoose
(32,639 posts)I hope they find the perpetrator(s) and get every nickel.
NBachers
(17,117 posts)SouthernDem4ever
(6,617 posts)BaronChocula
(1,559 posts)The time taken to destroy that statue could have been used to earn money to donate to Stink Bigly's legal funds.
hlthe2b
(102,283 posts)So damned sad...
70sEraVet
(3,503 posts)"To those who say that America has never been a racist country, Jackie Robinson faced threats and ridicule when he became the first black baseball player in major league baseball (MLB). And this statue stands as a replacement for the original statue, which was stolen and destroyed by those who attempted to desecrate his memory 77 years later."
THAT would be a fitting replacement!
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,010 posts)wolfie001
(2,240 posts)IronLionZion
(45,447 posts)just pure hate.