A statue of black police brutality murder victim George Floyd in New York City has been vandalized just two days after it was unveiled. The statue was placed on display in Union Square as part of an exhibit to promote the recognition of racial injustice in the country.
Police said the vandalizing of the larger than life statue on Sunday was caught on CCTV camera. Footage of the incident showed an unidentified person on a skateboard stopping by the statue and then splashing it with grey paint.
New York police said they have already launched an investigation into the matter. Volunteers from social justice organizations have also committed to a cleanup drive to restore the bust of Floyd to its original shine.
The recently-unveiled sculpture of George Floyd in Manhattan's Union Square has been vandalized with paint for the second time. https://t.co/9mgtulvyKz — NBC News (@NBCNews) October 3, 2021
Lindsay Eshelman, the co-founder of the group Confront Art, said she was shocked that the statue was vandalized just two days after it was unveiled. She and other volunteers have already started to scrape paint off the statue.
The statue was placed in the exhibit along with two other statues, namely those of John Lewis and Breaonna Taylor. Floyd, Lewis, and Taylor were all killed by police officers. The statues of Lewis and Taylor were reported untouched during the incident.
The three statues were constructed of 200 layers of African mahogany plywood and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds each. The statues stood almost six feet tall.
Organizers of the "See Injustice" event said the statues will remain on display in Union Square until the end of October. The statues will then be moved to similar exhibits in other cities throughout the country. Organizers said the statues are meant to be a symbol of racial injustice and to honor the lives of those that were lost.
The incident was not the first time the particular statue has been the victim of vandalism. Floyd's death has sparked a racial justice movement across the country and the rest of the world. His death has also renewed discussions on police brutality and racially motivated violence.
In June, when the statue was on display in Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, an unidentified group had smeared it with black paint. Reports said the statue was also marked with an alleged logo of a white supremacist group.
