A memorial commemorating the six fatal victims in Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, all of whom were Latino immigrants working in the U.S. construction industry, was vandalized overnight Friday.
Roberto Marquez, a Dallas artist who helped create the memorial, reported the vandalism to police Saturday morning after finding gaping holes in the painted canvas backdrop he had recently installed, according to an article in The Baltimore Sun.
Marquez was in Baltimore to complete the mural, which is based on input and reference photos from victims' families and relatives.
He said he left the mural site on Fort Smallwood Road at about 8 p.m. Friday night earlier than usual, and when he arrived back Saturday morning after a late night of sketching, he found the project with large holes cut in several canvases and broken support braces.
The idea for the memorial came from Marquez and others who wanted to stress the human impact of the Baltimore Bridge collapse and draw attention to the struggles of grieving families, even as some conversations highlighted only the supply chain disruptions caused by the temporary closure of Baltimore's vital port.
The elaborate display near the south end of the bridge began as a mural but has since grown to include decorated wooden crosses and a red pickup truck hanging from nearby tree branches, representing one of the work vehicles used by the six construction workers who were filling potholes on the bridge the night of the disaster.
The victims were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to pursue the American dream. They died after a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supports early on March 26.
It took authorities more than a month to recover all six bodies from the river. The last was found on May 8, 43 days after the bridge collapsed, and belonged to José Mynor Lopez, a 35-year-old Guatemalan immigrant.
The victims also included Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, a native of Mexico who lived in Baltimore; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, a native of Guatemala who lived in Dundalk, Maryland; and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, a father of two who immigrated from Honduras more than 17 years ago.
The other victims were Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, a Mexican immigrant, and Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, originally from El Salvador and who had lived in Maryland for the past 19 years.
Nearly 40% of the construction workforce in the Washington region is made up of immigrants, according to CASA, an immigrant rights group based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
"We lift this painful moment as a reminder that the Latino community is often behind the building and maintenance of our nation's infrastructure and should be celebrated for their contributions and sacrifice," 49 Latino leaders say in an open letter released weeks after the tragedy.
"Let us also take a moment to remind others of what these men represented. They embody the truth of the commitment and contributions of Latinos and immigrants to our nation. We must not allow a false narrative to keep poisoning the reality of the gratitude we should have for these men and women," the letter says.
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