Jackie Robinson Statue Outside Brooklyn Cyclones Stadium Defaced
In one of the most heinously displayed actions, the Jackie Robinson statue that stands outside the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium on Coney Island was defaced last night.
Racial slurs and swastikas were drawn all over the statue that shows Robinson and former Brooklyn Dodger teammate Pee Wee Reese standing side-by-side. Billy Harner, director of Communications with the Cyclones, spoke to Thomas Tracy and Rich Schapiro of the New York Daily News about the incident:
The statue is a symbol of tolerance. It’s an absolute tragedy that someone would deface it the way they did.
Workers at the stadium saw the mess after last night’s game and they worked this morning to scrub off the terrible things written on the statue. Police are saying that the matter is being investigated as a hate crime and they were on the scene this morning as it’s unclear if there are any potential suspects at the moment.
Robinson spent his entire career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the color barrier in baseball. Here’s a look at a worker trying to clean up the mess from Glenn Schuck of 1010 Wins:
Workers removing vandal spray paint from Jackie Robinson statue. Cyclones park pic.twitter.com/6VokOTmBI7
— glenn schuck (@glennschuck) August 7, 2013
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In case you missed it, be sure to find out more about the Brian Wilson Signing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgZB69VfKWI
Maybe tomorrow we’ll erect statues of everybody.