A mural of George Floyd has been vandalized with a splattering of gray paint in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The large mural is in the Riverwest neighborhood on Hilton St. and North Ave.
Floyd's death while in the custody of Minneapolis Police sparked nationwide riots in May, 2020 — including in Milwaukee.
As the violent riots raged across the city, the owner of the small building, Ihsan Atta, posted on Facebook that he wanted a mural of Floyd painted by community members. Within two days, artists were working on it.
“I wanted different artists to collaborate, different ethnicities and races to come together,” Atta said at the time, according to the website Urban Milwaukee. “People need to educate themselves and need to get out of their comfort zone and become friends or befriend people of color.”
The mural was completed in June 2020, in a collaborative effort by several local artists.
Murals and statues of Floyd have also been vandalized in New York, Florida, California, Michigan, and several other states. George Floyd Mural Vandalized In Miami, Muralist Calls Vandal A Loser https://t.co/F1JobpdQzq A George Floyd mural in Vallejo was vandalized. Melissa Penny, who painted the mural weeks after Floyd was killed, applied an anti-graffiti coating, allowing her to remove the graffiti quickly. pic.twitter.com/bE1r6oKcUY The George Floyd statue in Union Square was just vandalized. pic.twitter.com/eKxWitCNai NYC Parks Enforcement officers standing watch over the newly-unveiled statues of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and John Lewis in Union Square, after the George Floyd statue was vandalized with paint yesterday morning #NewYork #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/wlfmGg3WCD
— #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) July 16, 2021
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— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) October 4, 2021
One of the painters of the Milwaukee mural said that he immediately assumed that the vandalism was "race related."
"Initially, I was like, that's horrible. More than likely, race related," Dom Whitehurst was one of the original artists, told local station WISN. "I don't know. Maybe we have to come over here and keep watch. It's kind of sad that you have to do that for something so beautiful. This is supposed to be a peaceful representation of the community coming together."
When asked what their plan for the mural is, Whitehurst said that they are going to repaint it and possibly install security cameras in the area.
"We're going to redo that. Repaint it, like we painted it two years ago," Whitehurst said.
All four officers involved in Floyd's death have been convicted and sentenced.
