UPDATE: New surveillance video of the George Floyd statue being vandalized was released early Monday.
Original story:
UNION SQUARE, Manhattan — A statue of George Floyd was vandalized while on display in Union Square, photos posted to social media on Sunday show.
The statue was splattered with gray paint around 10 a.m., police said.
The statue is one of three monuments by artist Chris Carnabuci that were unveiled in the park on Thursday. The “SeeInJustice” art installation also includes statues of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police in March 2020, and Georgia Rep. John Lewis, the prominent civil rights leader who died last year.
Floyd, a Black man, died on May 25, 2020, after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
This is the second time the Floyd statue has been vandalized. In June, the statue was defaced with black paint and marked with the logo of a white supremacist group while on display in Brooklyn.
Members of the group that installed the statue painstakingly cleaned it before it was moved to Union Square. Carnabuci told the New York Times this week that he repainted all three statues before they went up in Union Square so they would be easier to clean if they were vandalized.
No arrests had been made in connection with Saturday’s incident, police said. The investigation remained ongoing.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
This story comprises reporting from The Associated Press.
Correction: The day of the incident has been updated, as well as the amount of time the officer’s knee was on Floyd’s neck.
Editor’s note: The color of the paint has been updated after new information from police.
