George Floyd Memorial Statue Vandalized In NYC

George Floyd Memorial Statue Vandalized In NYC

The George Floyd memorial statue in Union Square was vandalized by an unidentified skateboarder in the early morning on Oct. 3. According to reports, around 10 a.m. the male vandal ducked behind a nearby statue of the late Rep. John Lewis as he pulled out an object from his green backpack. He then threw paint on the George Floyd statue and took off on his skateboard.

A man on a skateboard vandalizes the newly erected statue of George Floyd in New York’s Union Square.

Even in death, the very idea of George Floyd being memorialized still frightens them.pic.twitter.com/6MPh38Sxai

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 4, 2021

Multiple images of the damage done to the statue have been shared online.

The statue of George Floyd in Union Square has barely been up two days and yet… pic.twitter.com/tdog1Fvj7O

— Travon Free (@Travon) October 4, 2021

Volunteers in the area have gathered to help clean up the paint.

Volunteers clean a statue of George Floyd after it was vandalized with paint in Union Square, NYC. pic.twitter.com/UJJJzrT4go

— The Recount (@therecount) October 4, 2021

This isn’t the first time that the George Floyd memorial statue has undergone vandalism. Five days after the statue was unveiled on Juneteenth in Brooklyn, it was covered in black paint and marked with an alleged logo of a white supremacist group. The statue was recently moved to Manhattan park.

As previously reported, George Floyd was wrongfully murdered by Minneapolis police last year during an arrest after a store worker accused Floyd of using a counterfeit $20 bill. The City of Minneapolis eventually settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Floyd’s family for $27 million. One of the officers responsible for Floyd’s death, Derek Chauvin, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison this past June. The trial of the other three officers involved in the incident is scheduled to begin in March of next year.

George Floyd

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