SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department is now investigating the incident where a mural of George Floyd was defaced by multiple people.
The police asked the public if they know anything about the incident, to call crime check at (509) 456-2233.
Cell phone video posted to Twitter on April 24 appears to show three people vandalizing the George Floyd mural in Downtown Spokane. This is the second time the mural has been defaced with white paint.
The mural was put up in July 2020 after Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. The officer who killed him, Derek Chauvin, was recently found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death.
The mural features the phrase, "No justice, no peace," a popular refrain chanted by protesters following Floyd's death. It also has the letters BLM in the background, which stand for Black Lives Matter.
The first time the mural was vandalized, white paint was splattered over Floyd’s face and a Black protester depicted in the mural.
This time, ‘Wake up, America,’ ‘kindness is everything,’ ‘power is not a color’ and ‘#Lovetrumpshate’ were spray painted over the mural. White paint was again splattered over the faces of Floyd and the protester.
The user who posted the minute long video said he saw three people defacing the mural. In the video, you can only see one of the suspects spray painting over the mural. One of the suspect appears to be recording what the other is doing on a cell phone.
Spokane Police Spokesperson Julie Humphreys said the department has started an investigation into the vandalism.
The mural was painted on the back of Shacktown Community Cycle by well-known artist Daniel Lopez, who is known for painting murals in alleys throughout the Spokane area.
More notably, Lopez is the artist behind the "American Jesus" mural near downtown Spokane. He designed the picture of Jesus Christ with a pixelated face in early 2018 and was then commissioned to paint one of his sketches on the side of the Spokane Dream Center near 2nd Avenue and Division Street.
