Cooper Lewis '26, News Editor
On the morning of June 1, Texan artist Roberto Marquez arrived to find five of his seven painted panels vandalized with large, gaping holes ripped in the center of them. The panels were designed as a part of a memorial in Baltimore to remember the six construction workers who plunged into the Patapsco River when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26. The memorial started as a pile of flowers that had grown organically, but it soon grew into an official memorial, including the seven panels painted by Marquez. The memorial has steadily drawn visitors from around not only the region, but the country as a whole. Marquez himself came from Texas to create the memorial, and he referred to it as a spiritual and emotional work of art. And now, it is irreparably damaged. "I think it's terrible," Jim Watts, a visitor to the memorial, said. "These guys didn't do anything wrong, just their job, and for that, they paid with their lives. I think it's terrible that somebody would vandalize it." A Baltimore police spokesperson said that officers responded to the location Saturday evening in response to a call about damaged property. Currently, there are no suspects in the case.
The victims, all Latino immigrants who had came to the U.S. in hopes of a better life and achieving the American Dream, died when the bridge on which they were filling potholes—the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland—collapsed after being struck by a container ship. Soon after the tragedy, Marquez and others sought to highlight the loss of life and draw attention to the grieving families despite constant talks over the economic and supply chain disruptions the collapse caused.
The mural vandalized was one of two crafted by Marquez. The unharmed mural depicted abstract scenes with the bridge connecting them, as well as written messages from the victims families and a violent scene at the southern U.S. border depicting armored officers fighting back immigrants. The mural has been moved into storage where it will remain safe, and there are even rumors that it will be moved to a Baltimore museum; however, this is unconfirmed. "Maybe they wanted to do damage to the community," Marquez told Baltimore-11 News. "And maybe even the migrants in general, and this is a way for them to display their hate." Marquez filed a police report, but has his doubts that anyone will be held accountable. He said that he does not plan to create another memorial, as it would likely be destroyed again. Marquez, and many visitors of the memorial, want the families to know that they are still paying tribute to the men lost, despite the obstacles in their way.
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