Salt Lake City police investigate after Floyd mural marred
Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 6 months AGO
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A mural of George Floyd was reportedly vandalized over the weekend, Salt Lake City police said Monday.
A tar-like black substance was poured over the painting sometime Sunday morning, said Sgt. Keith Horrocks. The vandalism wasn't reported to police, but an investigation was opened after police saw news reports about it, he said.
He said the mural was repainted before officers could collect evidence, which will make it more difficult to locate the culprits. They are searching for nearby security cameras and asking for the public's help with information, he said.
The mural features an image of the face of Floyd, a Black man killed in Minneapolis when a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
The tar-like substance appears to have been splashed over the left side of the face, with black dripping down the wall, according to a photo of the vandalism.
The building wall also features murals of several Utah residents killed by police, including Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, who died after officers fired at least 20 shots as he ran away. Those were not defaced.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall was among people who expressed outrage.
“I’m thankful to see Salt Lake City’s portrait of George Floyd restored. What happened to it is disgusting, intended to hurt and to cause fear," Mendenhall tweeted. ”But SLC is not afraid. We’re going to keep moving forward in our pursuit of racial equity and rooting out systemic racism."
Donovan Mitchell, a star with the NBA's Utah Jazz, tweeted: “Can’t even have a mural.... it’s sad dawg real sad!”
ARTICLES BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong police arrest 4 from university student union
HONG KONG (AP) — Four members of a Hong Kong university student union were arrested Wednesday for allegedly advocating terrorism by paying tribute to a person who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself, police said.
For South Sudan mothers, COVID-19 shook a fragile foundation
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Paska Itwari Beda knows hunger all too well. The young mother of five children — all of them under age 10 — sometimes survives on one bowl of porridge a day, and her entire family is lucky to scrape together a single daily meal, even with much of the money Beda makes cleaning offices going toward food. She goes to bed hungry in hopes her children won’t have to work or beg like many others in South Sudan, a country only a decade old and already ripped apart by civil war.
For South Sudan mothers, COVID-19 shook a fragile foundation
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Paska Itwari Beda knows hunger all too well. The young mother of five children — all of them under age 10 — sometimes survives on one bowl of porridge a day, and her entire family is lucky to scrape together a single daily meal, even with much of the money Beda makes cleaning offices going toward food. She goes to bed hungry in hopes her children won’t have to work or beg like many others in South Sudan, a country only a decade old and already ripped apart by civil war.