Stolen Liberty Statue Beheaded in Chilling YouTube Video
1010WINS
08 July 2009
New York — A replica of the Statue of Liberty swiped from a Brooklyn coffee shop last month has turned up in a shocking online video that shows its blindfolded head sawed off and then smashed to pieces with a bat.
Police are investigating the YouTube video which is reminiscent of real terrorist videos.
The slogans “We Don’t Want Your Freedom” and “Death to America” flash onto the screen repeatedly in the video which was posted anonymously on July 4.
The 200-pound statue vanished June 21 from outside Ditmas Park’s Vox Pop shop.
Debi Ryan, owner of the coffee shop, called the theft “un-American” and told the Daily News that she is “scared” after watching the video.
The 8-foot statue was donated by local artists. Shortly before the theft, it underwent a two-week makeover. It was bolted into wooden anchors outside the store.
The shop is known for left-wing political debate, poetry readings and open-mic events and Ryan says the video was “clearly politically motivated.”