Women arrested for vandalizing BLM mural outside Trump Tower
The individuals were reportedly a part of a coordinated group of around 10 who discussed their planned stunt on social media.
For the second time this week, vandals defaced the Black Lives Matter street mural in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.
Now two have been arrested, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the mural has already been repainted by city employees.
The two individuals were reportedly a part of a coordinated group of around 10 who discussed their planned stunt on social media, NBC News New York reports.
The vandals threw blue paint on the mural in midtown around 4 p.m. Friday. One of those arrested was a woman wearing a rainbow flag as a cape and an “All Lives Matter” shirt, the report states. It’s not clear what charges those arrested may face.
Read More: Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower vandalized
On Monday, the mural was defaced with red paint by an unknown man staging his own protest, theGRIO previously reported.
Nikki Rospond, who works in the neighborhood, caught the culprit on camera. The video shows a person dressed in dark colors and hat, dump a can of paint across the mural before fleeing the scene.
“I just couldn’t believe he did it in front of me and another person. It was clear we were videotaping and he just didn’t care,” Rospond said. “Thankfully this was just paint and nothing violent.
On July 9, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rev. Al Sharpton joined BLM activists in painting the bold yellow mural on the pavement in front of Trump Tower in New York City,
President Donald Trump tweeted that the mural not only denigrated the luxury of the Manhattan street, but also was a symbol of hate.
Hours after the mural was defaced with red paint on Monday, Mayo de Blasio tweeted, “The #BlackLivesMatter movement is more than words, and it can’t be undone.”
Read More: Mayor De Blasio to install Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower
On Thursday he took to twitter to make clear that “Our city isn’t just painting the words on Fifth Avenue. We’re committed to the meaning of the message,” de Blasio wrote.
But Trump is not having it.
The former reality TV star tweeted, “Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!”
To which De Blasio fired back with: “There is no ‘symbol of hate’ here. Just a commitment to truth,” the mayor wrote. “Only in your mind could an affirmation of people’s value be a scary thing.” The mayor went on to say on Thursday that “we are not denigrating anything, we are liberating Fifth Avenue.”
The Trump Tower mural is one of five that will be created in each of the city’s five boroughs.
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