Bridge memorial defaced
Posted at 12:02 PM on August 3, 2011
by Bob Collins
(23 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice
The I-35W bridge disaster memorial in Minneapolis was a lovely tribute to the people who died in the collapse four years ago.
It's a pity it took only a few hours for vandals to deface it.
The Star Tribune reports someone stole two-dozen stainless steel (pricey stuff) letters from the memorial, including the names of those who died in the 2007 disaster.
All the letters and names are now being removed until the memorial can be repaired.
Company policy prevents me from actually writing the last sentence of this post. But there's nothing that says you can't.
Update 3:15 p.m. - The press release from the city of Minneapolis:
Minneapolis police this morning responded to an incident of vandalism at the new Remembrance Garden dedicated to the victims and survivors of the I-35W Bridge collapse. The memorial, which was dedicated on Aug. 1, features a "survivor wall," which includes the names of collapse survivors and a message. Vandals removed 22 letters from the message.
Mayor R.T. Rybak said, "When the bridge collapsed and people were suffering, hundred of thousands of Minnesotans surrounded them with compassion. Now one or more individuals, through a single act of remarkable ignorance, are prolonging that suffering. That can change: I call on those responsible to immediately return the stolen letters. It's beyond description how wrong this act is, but it does not change the thousands of acts of compassion and support that this community has shown."
Police are investigating the vandalism, and in the meantime, the remaining letters are being removed from the wall until new ones can be installed. It is expected that it will be approximately two weeks before the new letters are in place.
Anyone with information on this act of vandalism is asked to call the police department's First Precinct at (612) 673-5701 and ask for the property crimes division.
The message on the survivor wall was crafted by survivors and the loved ones of those who were lost. It reads, "Our lives are not only defined by what happens, but by how we act in the fact of it, not only by what life brings us, but by what we bring to life. Selfless actions and compassion create enduring community out of tragic events."
Update 4:31 p.m. Courtesy of Bryan Reynolds (via Twitter), here's what the missing letters could spell:
Whoever I
However I
Viewer Ho
Viewer Oh
Review Ho
Review Oh
Rewove Hi
Heir Wove
Hire Wove
Hive Wore
Hero Wive
Hero View
Hoer Wive
Hoer View
Whore Vie
Hove Wire
Hove Weir
Hew Vireo
Here I Vow
Ere Hi Vow
Veer Hi Ow
Veer Who I
Veer How I
Ever Hi Ow
Ever Who I
Ever How I
Eve Hi Row
He Ire Vow
He Rive Ow
He Vie Row
He Wive Or
He View Or
Eh Ire Vow
Eh Rive Ow
Eh Vie Row
Eh Wive Or
Eh View Or
Hie Re Vow
Hie Rev Ow
Hive Re Ow
Hive We Or
Hover We I
Her Vie Ow
Her Wove I
Hew Vie Or
Hew Rove I
Hew Over I
Rive We Ho
Rive We Oh
Vie Re Who
Vie Re How
Vie We Rho
Wive Re Ho
Wive Re Oh
View Re Ho
View Re Oh
Rove We Hi
Over We Hi
Wove Re Hi
Woe Rev Hi
Owe Rev Hi
He Re I Vow
He Rev I Ow
Eh Re I Vow
Eh Rev I Ow
Rev We Ho I
Rev We Oh I
I'm thinking the perpetrators weren't trying to make some statement here.
Comments (23)
I've got your back, Bob.
What the f*ck is wrong with these people?
There are some very sick, depraved people in this world. Only cowards attack memorials to the dead.
It took a decade for families of 9/11 victims to come to terms with a memorial and even now, not all are on board with current plans. This seems personal. If not, I hope the police are paying attention to online sales or otherwise of unique steel letters....
My first thought is "scrappers."
I thought MinnPost summed it up nicely by simply ending the article with this simple one word sentence:
Bastards.
I personally don't believe in hell, but I'll make an exception in this case.
There's a special hell for people who do something like this.
There are plenty of invectives I want to use that I don't think Bob would allow me to put into a comment.
While symbols are undeniably important, the damage that was done involved stone and metal and can be repaired.
If we're going to identify sick, depraved people who have a special place reserved for them in hell, vandals most likely looking to sell scrap metal probably aren't on the short list.
Those who somehow abuse living, breathing, feeling human beings are perhaps better candidates for that dubious distinction.
This is the third article on this story that I've read. None of them give the full text of what the sign said. They only tell us that letters were stolen -- well, what did those letters spell? Talk about poor journalism.
@ Jim Shapiro - well, the vandal(s) have perhaps abused the living, breathing, feeling human beings who lost their loved ones in the bridge collapse. They certainly have enough pain without this disrespectful crime on top of it. Respect for the living and respect for the dead are not an either/or dichotomy. We can do both.
I'll admit to feeling a little outraged by this story--it does seem to be a monumentally calloused act by the perpetrators. But at the same time, the memorial itself makes me a little uncomfortable in its very nature. Yes, the collapse of the bridge and ensuing deaths were tragic. But isn't the death of every child from cancer tragic? Isn't grandma's descent into Alzheimer's tragic? Isn't every family torn apart by drug abuse tragic? Isn't the famine in Somalia tragic?
I suppose I should ask, aren't those events just as tragic? The very existence of the bridge memorial would seem to imply that they aren't.
And yet, I don't know that I'd want to live in a world without memorials, in whatever form they may come.
//Talk about poor journalism.
Given the number of letters that disappeared, I imagine they could've spelled any number of things.
The original letters spelled:
"Our lives are not only defined by what happens, but by how we act in the face of it, not only by what life brings us, but by what we bring to life. Selfless actions and compassion create enduring community out of tragic events."
And the resulting message after the letters were taken were in the photograph of the original Strib story to which I linked.
Maybe they spelled, "be nicer."
Drae - you point out that the vandals "perhaps" abused the living. And that respect for the living and the dead need not be mutually exclusive. Agreed on both points.
My observation is simply to point out that the amount of rage elicited by this post as measured by responses is double that of the photo of the starving child posted yesterday,
and while some appear to have unlimited pools of outrage to draw from, perhaps an evaluation of priorities is in order.
Before damning to hell the bastards who abused the living who lost loved ones when the bridge collapsed, let's think a bit more. Who took the letters? Perhaps a homeless schizophrenic who no longer gets social services from the government and thus can't afford to stay on their medication. Who is the *real* bastard? The person who stole the letters for scrap money or the person who stopped the aid money? And what about URS Corp., the company that paid out $54 million because they didn't inspect the bridge properly before it fell? If they had done their job properly the bridge may not have fallen. Have they been condemned to hell?
I agree that the defacement of the memorial is upsetting, but let's not form a virtual lynch mob over it.
@ Jim Shapiro - Agreed.
//a homeless schizophrenic who no longer gets social services from the government and thus can't afford to stay on their medication.
I eliminated homeless schizophrenics from the suspect list right off the bat. My wife's job is helping homeless schizophrenics get the medication, housing, and resources they need. It's a difficult job but those services are still available.
My guess is if you were desperate and needed to sell metal for scrap, you'd take all the letters.
My guess is it's a couple of youths who are under the false impression it was a cool thing to do.
Trendy parents who don't want to spring for their kids' names in Pottery Barn letters?
Someone stole the Honda logo off the front of my car recently. I heard from my mechanic shop that some kids apparently think it's cool to wear big shiny letters around their necks.
Guess my "hell" comment raised some ire. Who knew? Yes, it's easy to sit at the computer desk and condemn others, isn't it?
Here's a little insight from my 19-year-old daughter when she saw the TV news broadcast about the theft: "You can't be serious?! Why would someone even want to do that?" So I guess some youth (in an opinion poll of 1) think the actions of whomever warrants some questioning of why someone would even think to deface the memorial.
I love reading the comments. Even the Troll like ones are actually very thought provoking (most of the time).
Not that any comment here was troll like, just got me thinking.
Continue.
I've yet to hear anyone blame the design firm for attaching numerous steel letters in a fashion so easily removable. OF COURSE this was going to happen.
Monumentally stupid.
I agree with John. As you said, pricey stuff. If I can't afford to get food and happen to have a crow bar, it wouldn't take long for me to pull the letters off and then find a place to sell them.
I feel bad for saying this, but let's be honest, up to 3 screws holding something expensive that would take about 5 minutes to remove isn't going to stop a whole lot of people. Hunger and/or greed can be great motivators. Why not spell it with dollar bills and put it in glass, that would at least have the potential to be painful to remove.
| August 2011 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Master Archive
Recent Entries
- Enough with the Hiroshima atomic bomb comparisons
- Justices fume over MN Supreme Court ruling in sexual harassment case
- What happened in the basement? (5x8 - 5/22/13)
- Mary and Bob (5/21/13)
- If the tornado had hit MSP
- A 2018 Super Bowl for Minneapolis?
- Even if people quit smoking, state will reap plenty from cigarette tax hike
- Tornadoes, coincidence, and the spring we didn't have
- Tornado shows value of media's weather obsession (5x8 - 5/21/13)
- Oklahoma City knows tornadoes
Categories
- Arts
- Aviation
- Crime and Justice
- Disasters
- Economy
- Energy
- Five by 8
- Floods
- Floods 2011
- Health
- History
- Icons
- Life
- Marketing and advertising
- Mary and Bob
- Media
- News
- People doing good
- Politics
- Race
- Regional history
- Religion
- Schools
- Science
- Sports
- Surveys and trivia
- Tech
- The jobs we do
- War
- Weather
- You Should Meet...
Services
- Become a Member
- Member Connect Accounts
- Leadership Circle
- Sustaining Members
- Member Discounts
- Become a Sponsor
- Tax Information
- Planned Giving
- Vehicle Donation
- Donate Stock