The three artists who secretly installed an illicit bust of Edward Snowden in a Brooklyn park earlier this month want the NYPD to give it back.
A lawyer for the artists, who have requested anonymity in interviews with Mashable, sent a letter to NYPD Commissioner William Bratton demanding that police hand over the "artistic loan," which currently sits somewhere in the bowels of the 88th Precinct, removed from public view.
The letter was obtained by Capital New York.
Writing on behalf of his clients, Ronald L. Kuby makes the case that the art was placed in Fort Greene Park "in accordance with the spirit of the artistic mission statement" of the Parks Department's "Art in the Park" program. And while the artists failed to "cross every procedural 't' and dot every procedural 'i,'" Kuby says they're currently in the process of filling out the proper administrative forms.
"However," the lawyer writes, "in light of the fact that the NYC Parks Department and the NYPD chose to summarily cover and then remove this artistic loan, the artist would like the sculpture returned to them, forthwith."
Should the NYPD respond positively to the letter -- which they haven't done as of press time -- the artists plan on loaning it to the Postmasters Gallery for its May 10 show on privacy and surveillance. That gallery, the lawyer says, will reconstruct the column on which the original Snowden piece was displayed.
The artists say they will even throw in a plaque: "On Loan From The NYPD Property Clerk." How nice!
In the meantime, you can voice your support for the artists by signing Fight for the Future's petition telling the NYPD to "Free Snowden's bust!"
Retweet if you think NYPD & NSA spying on everyone stinks and this #SnowdenStatue is awesome. https://t.co/AlyKNUvC1K pic.twitter.com/LZLdlxMjbR— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) April 14, 2015
Here's the letter: