This country is filled with some weirdos. A statue of George Floyd was unveiled in Brooklyn this month of Juneteenth, and not even a full week went by before a group of white nationalists decided to vandalize it.
CNN reports that New York police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. The vandalism occurred early Thursday morning with black paint sprayed on the face of the statue and the website for the white nationalist group Patriot Front was stenciled into its base. The NYPD has released a video of four men walking towards the statue shortly before the vandalism and is currently searching for their whereabouts. The statue was unveiled on Saturday by Floyd’s brother, Terrence. It’s currently on display on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and will be moved to Manhattan’s Union Square in July.
Like everything white nationalists do, this is some bitch shit. Imagine feeling like you did something by vandalizing a statue of a man who died as a result of police violence? It’s just so...fragile.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the vandalism a “despicable act of hate.” He added that the City Cleanup Corps are currently repairing the statue. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that he’s assigned the state police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist the NYPD with the investigation.
“This act of cowardice is not just an attack on the Black community, and it’s not just an attack on the basic human decency George Floyd and his family deserve — it’s an attack on all New Yorkers, and the values our state stands for,” he tweeted Thursday night. “And to the group of neo-Nazis who did this, I want to be absolutely clear: get the hell out of our state.”
According to WLNY, a statue of Floyd was also unveiled on the steps of City Hall in Newark last week. Like the one in Brooklyn, that statue was also defaced with Black paint on the face and the Patriot Front website stenciled on the base. Investigators haven’t determined if the two incidents are related, but, I mean, come on now.