Berkeley "I Can't Breathe" Noose Hung by Artist Collective

As it turns out, the students who guessed that this was an "artistic gesture" in the tradition of Banksy and Basquiat were right:



Berkleyside, who has been closely following this issue, just posted an "artist's statement":

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2014/12/13/effigy-hung-from-sather-gate-before-berkeley-protest-march/



This post is an update for the original post here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025955939

I have mixed feelings about this.
If black people made the statement, then it's a comment on their own history, not racism.
They made the comment in THE iconic "place of free speech".

The potential for inciting violence/rioting/looting in this context, right before the Oakland Black Lives Matter Million March was pretty high, though. Was that message/intent deliberate?