Detroit Police have a message for the thugs who stole a 600-pound bronze statue erected just four months ago to honor a Black war hero: “you are an absolute coward.”
Detroit Police Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes was seething on Thursday when he spoke to the media about the recent overnight theft at Rouge Park, where vandals sawed off a statue honoring Tuskegee Airmen pilot Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson at the ankles.
“I am livid to be standing here in front of you, to see the dishonor that was done to a memorial to an American hero,” Hayes said, suggesting the monument to the POW and former Detroit teacher was likely swiped for scrap.
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“The impact of what they did cuts deeper than what they did here on this site. The history, the legacy of the Red Tails, of the Tuskegee Airmen, to his family, to those that honorably served with him and serve today,” Hayes said. “To disgrace that – you are an absolute coward.”
Eric Palmer, member of the Tuskegee Airmen Detroit chapter and Jefferson’s friend described the theft to WXYZ as “a serious slap in the face of a lot of people involved” in erecting the statue in June.
“It’s baffling,” he said. “It’s seriously baffling.”
Detroit police announced Friday they found the statue, but did not immediately release details on how or where it was recovered, The Associated Press reports.
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“You walk around Comerica Park, you got the statues of Tigers greats, you got the new statue of Barry Sanders. And Detroit also had a statue of Alexander Jefferson, an original Red Tail, a legend,” Palmer said. “It’s depressing because I’m quite sure it was someone who cut it down for some scrap metal.”
The Tuskegee Airmen, also known as Red Tails, were the nation’s first all-Black air fighter squadron, tasked with protecting American bombers from enemy fighters in Europe during World War II.
“In 1944 Jefferson was shot down over southern France during a mission, captured by Nazi forces, and for nine months held as a prisoner of war,” the Detroit Free Press reports. “He was freed and returned home to Detroit 1945. He became a beloved school teacher and champion of the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen.”
The life-sized statue of Jefferson was erected in June in Rouge Park, where he was known to fly model airplanes as a child. Jefferson was 100 years old when he died in June 2022, according to the news site.
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“This statue has stood not just as a piece of art, but as a symbol of our community’s history, values, and collective memory,” Jefferson’s granddaughter, Ernestine Lavergne, said in a statement. “To many, it represents a cherished reminder of our shared past and the lessons we carry forward.”
“This act of theft goes beyond vandalism; it is a loss to everyone who found meaning, connection, and pride in that statue and the heroic actions of the Tuskegee Airmen,” she said.
Jefferson flew 18 missions with the Tuskegee Airmen, whose “exceptional skill and bravery resulted in very few losses of the bombers they escorted, earning them a reputation that led to request from bomber crews specifically asking for their support,” according to the Michigan Chronicle.
“Meeting (Jefferson) as early as I met him and hearing these stories over and over again throughout the years was quite special to me,” Palmer told WXYZ. “They were the ones, along with the 761st tank battalion, the ones who inspired Truman to desegregate the military.”