Police are seeking to identify a white man and white woman who tore apart a city-approved Black Lives Matter mural in Martinez, California, on July 4.
Viewers caught the woman on video as she painted over the words “Black Lives Matter” on the street outside the Contra Costa County courthouse as the man appeared to film her on his phone. Authorities are asking the public to identify the couple so they can “take responsibility for their actions,” Martinez’s police chief Manjit Sappal said in a press release on Sunday.
“The community spent a considerable amount of time putting together the mural only to paint it in a hateful and pointless way,” the statement said. “The City of Martinez values tolerance and the damage to the mural was divisive and hurtful.”
Sappal’s launch verified the video, which was shared on YouTube and an Instagram account called “Karens Going Wild”. The Instagram post has over 375,000 views, while the YouTube video has been viewed less than 50,000 times.
Martinez police said the man and woman had already left when they arrived on the scene. Witnesses provided police with a photo of their vehicle, a white Nissan van with the word “Nicole” on the right side of the tailgate.
Sappal confirmed that the mural was painted after community members obtained the corresponding permits. Similar murals have been painted across the country, including in cities like Washington, DC, and New York.
In the video, viewers asked what was wrong with the couple and called it racist vandalism. The man, who was wearing a red shirt that said “Trump four more years,” said they were tired of “the narrative of oppression.”
“There is no oppression, there is no racism,” the man said, as he held up his phone. “It is a leftist lie. It is a lie of the media, the liberal left. “
Someone could be heard in the background asking, “You can’t be that stupid, can you?”
Meanwhile, the woman continued to paint on the yellow “Black Lives Matter” mural with black paint. At one point, she asked the man to get her another can.
Keep this shit in New York. This is not happening in my city, “he said.
The man and woman continued to verbally argue with numerous viewers throughout the five-minute video. The man denied the existence of police brutality and repeatedly said, “All lives matter.”
About four minutes after the video, a woman who was yelling at the couple removed the can of paint.
It is unclear what happened after the video ended.
The Martinez Police Department did not immediately respond to an email and a phone call from NBC News asking about possible charges.
