A display of paintings created by members of the Royal Chicano Air Force hung inside the library, undisturbed.

Then on March 20, as a demonstration about HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, reached its climax on campus, two paintings from the collection were stripped off the wall and stomped inside a first-floor restroom, said Leslie Rivers, assistant to the director of the University Library Gallery.

The demonstration, prompted by the House of Representatives bill that’s currently stalled in the Senate, may have pushed someone over the line by using discrimination as a tactic to deliver a negative message, Rivers said.

“We think it was racially motivated,” Rivers said. It came as a surprise, because for the past 2 years the displays were left untouched, she said.

“They are historically very important to California,” Rivers said about the paintings and the group Chicano group that peaked during the Cesar Chavez movement.

The Royal Chicano Air Force was a group of Chicano artists that was active in the late 1960s and 1970s. The group was a part of the Chicano Pride and originated in the Sacramento area.

The incident was reported the campus police after someone heard the breaking of glass in the men’s restroom, said Sgt. Kelly Clark of the University Police Department.

“(A racial motivation) came to mind but we have nothing that substantiates it,” Clark said.

Rivers said the two paintings that were vandalized were probably destroyed beyond repair.To prevent future vandalism attempts, the library gallery is putting up a plexiglass shield, and the library is still displaying the remainder of the paintings.

“We won’t be bullied into removing them,” Rivers said.

The police were able to take a couple of good fingerprints from the damaged paintings, but Clark said identifying someone from those could be hard because any number of fingerprints could be present. Clark said there are no suspects at this time.

For anyone with information regarding this incident, call campus police at 278-6851.

Brandon Darnell can be reached at [email protected]