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Kobe Bryant's mural in Texas vandalized with the word 'rapist' just hours after being unveiled

Bryant was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in 2003 after being accused of the same by a 19-year-old girl.
PUBLISHED FEB 1, 2020
Kobe Bryant. (Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant. (Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianni's death shocked the world on Sunday. Following this, fans have been paying tribute to the star basketball player and his daughter through different mediums. A mural in Austin, Texas, was one such tribute. However, it was vandalized just hours after being unveiled with the words "rapist". A fan who had visited the spot to see the mural shared an image of the vandalized mural on his social media sites and wrote according to Daily Mail, "Went pay my respects to Kobe but the mural has already been defaced."

The artist of the mural, Laced and Found, told KVUE that he had already been to the mural site to fix it and said, "I believe everyone has their own beliefs and opinions on various matter."

He also added, "Nonetheless there are ways to go about speaking and voicing personal thoughts. This was disrespectful to the Kobe family, the city of Austin, the fans and the artists who put some serious hard work and emotions into the piece. We will continue to fix this piece and prolong it as long as possible for the community to have it as their own.”

Bryant was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in 2003 after being accused of the same by a 19-year-old girl. Bryant has initially claimed that the sex was consensual and had also held a press conference with his wife when he confessed to cheating on her. The accusser refused to testify in court and the case against Bryant was dropped in 2004. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert had ruled, "This motion is to dismiss based on the sole fact that the victim is unable to continue."

Following this, Bryant issued a statement of apology without admitting to any wrongdoing. After the criminal case was dropped, a civil case was settled out of court between Bryant and the accuser. 

The case surfaced again after the Lakers player's death when a reporter from The Washington Post shared a 2016 story by Daily Beast on Twitter about the allegations. Fans of the basketball star took offense to the mention of anything that would tarnish the image of their favorite basketball player after his death. The resulting backlash pushed The Post to suspend the journalist, Felicia Sonmez. However, after this was slammed by the staff members of The Post who came to Sonmez's defense, a review was held to confirm if Sonmez's move to share the article on Twitter violated The Post's social media policy. On Tuesday, however, it was concluded that Sonmez "was not in clear and direct violation of our social media policy." She was reinstated.

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