One of the most iconic statues in San Jose and the racial justice movement was defaced over the weekend.
The “Victory Salute” statue at San Jose State University–which depicts alumni and African American Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos–was found defaced on Saturday, university officials said in a campus-wide email. The statue, which has already been cleaned, is located at the school’s Tower Lawn.
A homeless man urinated and vomited on the statue, Capt. Frank Belcastro of the SJSU Police Department told San Jose Spotlight.
The man was seen by a passerby Saturday who reported the act to campus police. Belcastro said officers spotted the man trying to