Protesters alter the ‘Defund the Police’ mural outside Milwaukee City Hall to read ‘Defend the Police’

A painted mural outside of Milwaukee City Hall that said ‘Defund the Police’ had a letter painted on it on Friday saying ‘Defend the police’.

The original mural had been painted by some 30 activists on Wednesday to support what has become a national movement to transfer funds from police departments to schools and youth programs.

But only two days later it had been manipulated to spell ‘Defend the Police’.

On Friday, days after it was created, a street mural outside Milwaukee City Hall was changed.

The painted words ‘Defund the Police’ were changed to ‘Defend the police’

This is how the mural appeared before another group of activists ended up altering the letters

Images taken from the camera of a drone show the artistic work of the protesters

A woman took a stunning selfie amidst the letters painted on the road

The adjustment to the original phrase came after former councilman Robert Donovan openly criticized the mural on social media Wednesday night.

The ‘D’ had been painted blue while the ‘U’ had been covered and changed to an ‘E’, according to Urban Milwaukee.

The change was carried out by an anonymous group, but their work was short-lived and by the end of Friday the ‘U’ had returned.

The adjustment to the original phrase came after former councilman Robert Donovan, who was sitting on the Milwaukee Joint Council, openly criticized the mural on social media Wednesday night.

‘They fixed it for you guys!’ He tweeted along with a photograph showing the mural crossed out with a blue line.

The “thin blue line” is a term for the police that is used to affirm that they are the line that prevents society from descending into violent chaos.

The Defund the Police movement began to gather momentum after George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis. This mural was sore in Washington DC

The words ‘Defund the Police’ were painted on Water Street near City Hall, but were changed on Friday.

The group behind the sudden change has managed to remain anonymous.

Drone images show how the mural appeared before it was damaged

During his 20 years on the Milwaukee Joint Council, Donovan had long lobbied for an increase in funding for the city police department.

On Twitter, several comments seemed to praise the change.

Defend the police. A great idea, ‘wrote one user.

I have to find out who this hero is so I can buy him a beer. #Milwaukee #DefendThePolice ‘added another.

‘Outside Milwaukee City Hall, protesters paint “defuse the police.” In response, her graffiti is changed to; “DEFEND the police” …. Let America continue! This has to catch up across the country! tweeted another poster online.

The Defund the Police movement began to gather momentum after George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis.

On Twitter, several comments seemed to praise the brief change.

An aerial view of the street shows the mural in its entirety directly outside the Town Hall

Late on Friday, the painting was changed back to ‘Defund the Police’

‘People keep asking us, what does the outlay mean? It doesn’t mean abolishing, “said Jeremy Wilbur, who was part of the group that painted the” Defund the Police “mural.

“Let’s make this clear to them, we don’t hate the cops,” he said in a Facebook Live video.

“Some people don’t understand what the police mean,” another protester Brandon Wilborn told CBS58.

“It simply means not getting rid of the police, but taking some of the money they are getting and putting it in schools, homes and other places that are needed.”

In Milwaukee, the Joint Council is analyzing the possible implications of a possible 10% cut in the Police Department budget.