SAN FRANCISCO — A bronze statue of Harambe, a gorilla shot dead in 2016 after a boy climbed inside its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, was installed in front of Facebook's headquarters Tuesday — one week after it appeared in front of "Charging Bull" on Wall Street.
Once again, the statue was accompanied by 10,000 of bananas placed around the company's logo. Sapien Tribe, the organization behind the 7-foot installation, said they are focused on "putting the needs of human beings/our planet first."
"Financial institutions like Wall Street and technology empires like Facebook have become wholly out of touch with the needs of everyday people, using them for profit instead of empowering them as they claim to do," the group said on Twitter.
Sapien Tribe said it also raised funds for homeless shelters and food banks in the Bay Area while at Facebook headquarters. The bananas were donated to local groups, Sapien Tribe said.
The organization's co-founders told NBC New York they use Harambe as a symbol to challenge a system the said "enriches wealthy elites and leaves the average person behind."
"Harambe is a representation of something that lets us look at more than just ourselves," Robert Giometti told NBC 4. "What are we aspiring to be as People?" It's about connecting. A simple gesture of giving a banana builds community. As a society we need to come together. We can't keep fighting to come together."
The temporary installation was taken down soon after it was installed. Sapien Tribe did not say where it would go next.
