A mural of George Floyd in Houston was defaced with racist graffiti overnight Thursday, just days after former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd’s murder.
“N****** lives don’t matter,” was tagged red spray paint over Floyd’s face.
LOOK AT THIS: Someone defaced the #georgefloyd mural on Chartres and Bell writing, “N-word lives don’t matter. SMH. pic.twitter.com/vGYkDE9O7U
— Chauncy Glover (@ChauncyOnTV) April 22, 2021
The city’s Police Chief Troy Finner shared that the vandalism was carried out by some “knucklehead” and he doesn’t “know what their motivation is, hate, or whatever.”
Finner encouraged the community to not react in anger and urged them to not pay attention to “one stupid individual.”
“I’m upset about it as well, but you know what?” Finner said. “Let ‘em do it again, let ‘em get caught.” Finner went on to say, “Let me tell you something, and I want everybody to understand: ignorant people with bad hearts and bad motivations — do not give them the power. Don’t give them the power,” Finner said Thursday.
The mural which has been up in downtown Houston since last year was restored by the artist, Daniel Anguilu, Thursday afternoon.
“As a human, it’s just wrong to do something like that,” Anguilu told reporters.
“My intention with this mural and with a group of friends when we painted it was of support, first, but also to help our communities heal from some of the issues that we’re facing,” he said. “So, it’s a reminder that we just have to keep working.”
UPDATE: the defaced #GeorgeFloyd mural has been fixed. HPD police chief says they are investigating and will charge the person responsible. #abc13 pic.twitter.com/b2YOk1vUaO
— Chauncy Glover (@ChauncyOnTV) April 22, 2021
