Autism Awareness Horse

About

Autism Awareness Horse refers to a horse statue featuring autism puzzle piece symbols on its coat, created as a part of the Gallopaloza 2004 public art exhibit to promote autism awareness and used as a street decoration in Louisville, Kentucky. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, the statue was stolen and carried around by protesters, with viral videos and photographs of it being circulated online.

Origin

In May 2004, cow parade public art exhibit Galoopalooza 2004 took place in Louisville, Kentucky. As a part of the festival, Families for Effective Autism and Treatment of Louisville (FEAT) painted and submitted Autism Awareness Horse (named "Assault" after the 1946 US Triple Crown Winner).^[1][2][3] The statue was purchased by Louisville restaurant VINCENZo'S^[4] and stood on public display near the corner of the restaurant's building (photographs shown below).

Spread

On May 30th, 2020, during the 2020 George Floyd protests, WLKY local news station anchor Stephon Dingle tweeted^[5] that the horse had been stolen and posted a video in which a group of young men carried the horse down the street. The video received over 27,900 views in two days (shown below).

Protestors stole galapalooza horse statue from 4th Street Live – which is the entertainment district in Louisville. Later saw an SUV speeding down the street with it on top of the vehicle. @WLKY #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/Xt0wI5RUSV

— Stephon Dingle WLKY (@Stephon_Dingle) May 30, 2020

On the same night, a video of the horse being driven around on the roof of a car was broadcasted by the local news station WLKY. Later on the same night, Twitter^[6] user @mehlucku13 posted a clip of the horse being driven away, gaining over 67,300 views and 2,200 likes in two days (shown below).

Yep, things are calming down, eerily quiet… oh sh*t someone is stealing the horse! 😂😂😂 Come on? #Louisville #Protest #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/tNhbh4HpgY

— Lucky13 (@mehlucky13) May 30, 2020

On the morning of May 30th Twitter^[7] user @MarsReviews quoted the tweet, writing "BRUH HE STOLE AUTISM HORSE!!!" the tweet received over 2,000 retweets and 10,700 likes in two days (shown below, left). A May 31st tweet by @ChillyPhillies88 received over 50 retweets and 390 likes. Later on the same day, Facebook user Garrett Lee Shadowen posted a photograph of the horse lying near a dumpster, writing that it has been found. The post received over 460 reactions and 5,200 shares (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References