Outrage over mural at California school showing Trump's head on a spear
A new mural at a California charter school depicting President Trump's head on a spear has sparked outrage online and among parents in the community. The artist was asked to modify it due to the graphic nature of the painting, CBS affiliate KFMB reports.
The recently unveiled mural at the MAAC Charter School in Chula Vista, San Diego, depicts an Aztec warrior spearing Mr. Trump's decapitated, bloody head. By Wednesday, a black tarp was covering the picture after the display attracted attention.
Shasha Andrade, one of three people who worked on the piece, shared the full image of the mural across Facebook and Instagram when the painting was covered up.
Andrade wrote on Facebook that the group agreed to change the graphic mural because of threats made to the school.
"We were just going to adjust the mural but when things got out of control and the school started receiving threats and putting the students at risk we decided to change it completely," she wrote on Sunday.
School director Tommy Ramirez told KFMB the mural was a part of "Battlegroundz," an annual event highlighting street murals as an urban art to raise money for scholarships for seniors. The fundraiser was on April 28.
"We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our school's philosophy of nonviolence," Ramirez said. "We have been in communication with the artist who has agreed to modify the artwork to better align with the school's philosophy."
Many residents in the area who spoke with KFMB considered the illustration on the wall of the school graphic and inappropriate.
"I don't like it at all," one resident said. "This only incites more trouble. That's my opinion."
A parent who lives across the street was more concerned that it was on a school's wall than with the painting itself.
"I think it's great artwork," he said. "It is a little graphic but overall its a person's opinion who painted it. Now it being on a school, I see maybe they shouldn't have done that."
In May 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin came under fire for a photo shoot in which she was holding a model of Mr. Trump's bloody head.