Rapper Places Stickers Comparing NYPD To Nazis & KKK Around NYC
A rapper and graphic designer has taken it upon himself to place stickers comparing the NYPD with the KKK and Nazis around NYC over the last couple months. Bilal Johnson, aka Buddha Lee Raye, replaced the images on the classic MTA signage (no smoking/no eating/no littering/no music) with the KKK hood, the swastika, and the NYPD logo.
An MTA spokesperson told us, "It is an act of vandalism. The signs will continue to be immediately removed after they are located. Unfortunately acts of vandalism require shifting personnel away from their normal duties and responsibilities which costs everyone."
You can see some of his handiwork below.
graffiti sticker today Subway NYC Says... Please (Red Strike) Nazi, Klan & Police shield symbols.
#PoliceLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/zoWT5j5ddG
— Alice (@aliceobserving) January 9, 2015
Gotta love the NYC subway system, you see all sorts of nonsense. @TheCumiaShow @AnthonyCumia pic.twitter.com/D0stTvUggN
— Keith the Cop (@Keiththecop) December 17, 2014
#PleaseStop pic.twitter.com/EtgRQKOzln
— #FreeillYork (@BuddhaLeeRaye) January 5, 2015
When u spot them hash tag #PleaseStop
#stickerart #art #BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter
#IEOE #NYF #NYC pic.twitter.com/PHBrGUsw7e
— INDIVIDUAL IE EMPIRE (@_I_E_O_E_) January 12, 2015
"Anyone can make the case that the police department helps the people of New York on a daily basis," the 24-year-old Johnson told DNAInfo. "But there's that aspect of brutality that gets overlooked. That needs to stop." Raye, who lives in East New York, said he printed 2,000 copies of the stickers on Dec. 17th, and has been placing them in the subways, on ATM machines, and even on police vehicles ever since. He added that he was inspired/incensed by the deaths of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.
Nevertheless, he told DNAInfo that the inflammatory stickers are meant to promote peace: "The sticker reads how it does: No KKK. No Nazis. Please, stop hating. Stop killing. Stop racism," he said. "I needed something that people would automatically see and take a moment to process — something people thought that they saw before but when they looked closer it's actually something different. I wanted that shock value."
For the record, this definitely isn't the strangest fake MTA sign we've seen recently:
Weird sticker on the subway. #mta #nyc #subway pic.twitter.com/LLp6y9bJZ0
— Beth Frank (@farbav) December 24, 2014
