George Floyd Statue Vandalised Days After Being Unveiled
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A statue of George Floyd has been vandalised just two days after being unveiled to the public.
The bronze statue was erected on Thursday (30 September) in Union Square, New York City and NBC News has reported that just 48 hours later at 10am, footage showed a person defacing the sculpture and running away.
#BREAKING: an organizer from the non profit We are Floyd tells me the George Floyd statue in Union Square was vandalized. It was also vandalized at its former home in Brooklyn. @NY1 pic.twitter.com/H8LUM94dFU
- Shannan Ferry (@ShannanFerry) October 3, 2021
The George Floyd Statue in Union Square has been vandalized. Photos from my producer walking by this afternoon. @zacharyslater pic.twitter.com/G1XJBFnNiz
- Don Lemon (@donlemon) October 3, 2021
Law enforcement sources were said to have told TMZ that a male was seen mixing some sort of paint before hopping on a skateboard and throwing whatever mixture he had in hand over the statue.
Cleanup efforts are underway, NBC News reports.
The sculpture was one of three that was recently unveiled, with the others being murals of John Lewis and Breonna Taylor.
The George Floyd statue was also shown in Brooklyn and defaced on June 19.
It was vandalized with black paint and marked with the logo of a white supremacist group.
Floyd's brother Terrence said at the time: "I heard the news about the vandalism.
"I was so proud that I got word that Flatbush held it down. They really supported us, looked out for the statue, looked out for the spirit of my brother.
"You try to stop us, but you can't stop us. And we're still going to continue, with love."
Andrew Cohen of Confront Art, the group behind the statue, said people spent hours cleaning off the paint with toothbrushes and hands, as per AP News.
"The only method that worked was really, really putting the elbow grease into it," he said.
George Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on 25 May 2020 when Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes during an arrest after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit $20 bill.
Floyd's death triggered global outrage and the Black Lives Matter movement saw protests be held against the use of excessive force by police officers against black suspects and lack of police accountability.
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