Man Arrested For Defacing Black Lives Matter Mural Outside Trump Tower
Published
A man was arrested twice last week for defacing the Black Lives Matter mural outside the US president’s New York City residence, Trump Tower.
The public artwork, on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, was commissioned by the City of New York amid worldwide protests in the wake of George Floyd‘s death and completed last month, on July 9.
However, in the weeks that have followed the mural has been vandalised countless times, on this occasion by a Trump supporter who was so intent in destroying the artwork he came back twice to throw paint over it.
You can watch the moment he gets confronted below:
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Both times, on July 25 and July 26, the man was arrested by the New York Police Department, becoming one of at least eight people to be detained for vandalising the mural.
The man has since been identified as 31-year-old Mark-David Hutt, the founder of LGBTrump, who shared footage of the incident on the organisation’s Facebook page alongside the caption: ‘WE DID IT PATRIOTS!’
Hutt went on to say he was arrested twice in 12 hours for defacing the mural, adding: ‘I have NO REGRETS. F*ck you, DeBlasio!!!’ Mayor Bill de Blasio helped members of the public paint the mural after it was commissioned.
The footage shows Hutt crawling on his knees, using his bare hands to smudge the paint as one person can be heard saying: ‘Unbelievable.’ Other observers watched in stunned silence as he defaced the mural.
An NYPD officer can then be seen telling Hutt to stop about halfway through the footage, with the officer saying: ‘Sir, step up sir! You need to stop.’ Hutt didn’t stop, instead ignoring the officer’s warnings several times.
The vandal was then surrounded by a group of officers, before being placed in handcuffs and escorted out of the area. It took four police officers to lead Hutt away, with NYPD Detective Denise Moroney telling The Washington Post he was later charged with criminal mischief.
The mural was one of five announced in June for New York City as part of an initiative to honour civil rights activists, and was painted last month by members of the community wearing ‘I Am Peace’ T-shirts.
However it seems that, despite their peaceful intentions, a small minority have taken offence at the mural and have decided to express this anger with petty vandalism.
Donald Trump still hasn’t condemned the actions of this small minority, despite having previously vowed to punish those who vandalise monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial or ‘just about any other federal monument or statue’ with ‘an automatic 10 years in prison’.
But then again, I guess those rules only apply when aimed at those the president disagrees with.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org/talk
Topics: News, America, Black Lives Matter, Crime, Donald Trump, Now, Politics, Racism, US, vandalism
Credits
LGBTrump - Gays For Trump/Facebook and 1 otherLGBTrump - Gays For Trump/Facebook
The Washington Post
NYPD has arrested at least eight people for vandalizing city's Black Lives Matter mural
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