NEW YORK – Blue paint has been splashed into a prominent Black Lives Matter street paint, the second time this week it was defaced.
Three people were arrested and one person received a subpoena for the incident on Friday afternoon near Trump Tower, the Washington Examiner confirmed with the New York Police Department. An arrested woman was seen wearing an All Lives Matter T-shirt and a rainbow cape.
The blue paint was cleaned by the city’s Department of Transportation just hours after the fact.
The paint is splashed into a Black Lives Matter street painting in New York City for the second time in a week.
(Screenshot / NBC New York)
It was previously splattered with red paint on Tuesday, and when the city quickly cleaned it up that day, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who helped install the street paint along with First Lady Chirlane McCray and Reverend Al Sharpton, tweeted:
Other New York Police Department officers were dispatched to 5th Avenue to protect the painting from Black Lives Matter Street after the incident on Tuesday.
Former Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik tweeted Thursday night:
I just heard that @NYCMayor has 1 and 8 securing the #BlackMindsMatter mural on Trump Tower. It’s a sergeant and eight police officers, x 3 trips per day! The violence, the shooting and the murders are in New York and this clown has three sergeants and 24 policemen who keep a mural. If true, # SICK
– Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) July 16, 2020
the Washington Examiner On Friday, he confirmed with officials at the scene that they were protecting not only the Trump Tower but also the BLM painting.
The unmarked NYPD vehicle is parked on the BLM mural in front of the Trump Tower
Credit: Washington Examiner / Kerry Picket
De Blasio launched a plan on Friday to reduce gun violence, which has plagued the country’s largest city lately. That includes moving patrols to high-firing areas, improving shooting investigations, organizing gun buyback events, and working with community partners.
Gunshots and other crimes in the city have skyrocketed, but De Blasio has blamed the recent massive increase in armed violence for several reasons, including lack of resources for law enforcement, the COVID-19 pandemic, the judicial system , high unemployment and the lack of activities available for young people.
In June, 270 people were shot and 39 were killed, an increase of 130% over the previous year that same month. The shootings in July continue to grow after 64 people were shot after the weekend of July 4.
