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The marks spotted on the likeness of King, the civil rights leader who advocated for human rights until his assassination in 1968, hurt local neighborhood residents such as Mary Simmons.
“It’s just so painful,” Simmons said. “I want to cry every time I think about it.”
Authorities were notified about the hate-motivated symbols on the front of the statue in Martin Luther King Jr. Park on Friday at about 3:18 p.m.
“The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime and there are currently no suspects nor suspect information available,” Richard Mejia, an LBPD spokesman, said in an email.
A day after a statue of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Central Long Beach was graffitied with symbols often associated with White supremacy, residents, elected officials and pastors hosted a rally in Martin Luther King Jr. Park to advocate for peace.
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Mary Simmons, an organizer with community based group AOC7, co-hosted the event with Rocio Torres saying that something had to be done in response to an act that she described as heartbreaking.
“Our hearts were broken when we saw the posts on social media,” Simmons said. “We can stand by and do nothing, or we can stand up against it.”
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