New York man charged for defacing George Floyd statue: Reports

A single charge of criminal mischief has been put on Michael Beals, who has been linked to the vandalism of a George Floyd statue in New York City earlier this month, according to US media reports.

The New York Police Department released a video of a suspect who can be seen tossing pain on the memorial statue of Floyd while riding a skateboard around 10 AM on October 3, 2021. 

According to reports from NBC, it was not clear if Beals had any legal representation so far or how he responded to charges of defacement.

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Earlier this year in June, the statue was given a similar treatment and was marked with a logo of a white supremacist group along with some black paint. At the time, the statue was erect in Brooklyn. The incident happened nearly one year after Floyd, an African American, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, on May 25, 2020.  

Chris Carnabuci, the creator of the statue, told New York Times earlier that the structure was repainted before being transported to New York’s Union Square.

Kathy Hochul, the newly instated Governor of New York, said that the defacement of the George Floyd memorial was an “act of cowardice” and went on to pledge the support of the Hate Crimes Task Force in investigating the incident.

The statue of George Floyd is one of three structures erected in the area. Prominent civil rights and a lawmaker from Georgia John Lewis’s statue and Breonna Taylor’s statues have also been erected, however, the other two were not defaced.

A mural honouring George Floyd erected at Summit and Lagrange in Toledo was reportedly struck down by lightning and reduced to rubble, earlier this year in July.