Prison Ship Martyrs Monument Vandalized With Edward Snowden Bust

Apparently a crew of three artists, plus assistants, dragged a four-foot-tall plaster-like bust of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden up Fort Greene Park and on top of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument last night (Sunday night), and adhered it to one of the four corner columns. They also adhered letters spelling his name to the bottom of the column.

According to Animal New York, which documented the vandalism in video and blog form, the instigators call the project “Prison Ship Martyrs Monument 2.0” and described their mission thusly:

“Fort Greene’s Prison Ship Martyrs Monument is a memorial to American POWs who lost their lives during the Revolutionary War. We have updated this monument to highlight those who sacrifice their safety in the fight against modern-day tyrannies. It would be a dishonor to those memorialized here to not laud those who protect the ideals they fought for, as Edward Snowden has by bringing the NSA’s 4th-Amendment-violating surveillance programs to light. All too often, figures who strive to uphold these ideals have been cast as criminals rather than in bronze.

They also noted that they made the bust removable, with the understanding that it would be taken down, but that they may “deploy an army of mini-Snowden heads.”

“We have a full size mold that can be poured again and its been 3D rendered, so we have the ability to print smaller ones at scale,” they said.

Charles Jarden, president of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, told us there’s a Parks Department crew there now working on removing it. In the meantime, it has been covered.

We’ll update shortly with community reactions. What do you think about the “illicit” display and subsequent removal?