Skateboarding vandal defaces new George Floyd statue in NYC's Union Square

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Monday, October 4, 2021

Video shows George Floyd statue vandalized

Surveillance video shows the vandal who defaced the new George Floyd statue in Manhattan's Union Square.

UNION SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Newly released surveillance video shows suspect vandalizing a brand new statue of George Floyd in Manhattan's Union Square.

It's the second time a statue of Floyd has been vandalized in the city in a matter of months.

The video shows the suspect riding past on a skateboard and splashing blue paint across the statue.

It happened just after 10 a.m. Sunday, just four days after the statue was unveiled at the park last week.

They sit in the southern part of Union Square - statues of George Floyd, John Lewis and Breonna Taylor.

along with statues of John Lewis and Breonna Taylor.

The other two statues both remained untouched.

Eyewitness News was there Sunday afternoon as crews at the park cleaned the paint from the damaged statue.

The exhibition is titled "See Injustice," and was created by artist Chris Carnabuci.

Carnabuci was unavailable to speak Sunday, but a joint statement was released by Confront Art and We Are Floyd in response to the incident:

"It takes a lot of courage to display the 3 statues we are exhibiting in Union Square. It also takes a good deal of courage to vandalize a statue on a global stage in broad daylight. This continues to bring light to our mission that art is a conversation catylist, a place for public discourse, and through these acts we can hopefully overcome hate and find unity for the future. We continue to be inspired to create and display public art to further this important mission."

The exhibition was the brainchild of Confront Art, and is the organization's first installation.

This is the second time a George Floyd statue has been vandalized in New York City. Back in June, an 11-foot-tall image of Floyd by the same artist was blasted with black paint in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

There is growing outrage in Brooklyn and in Newark after two statues to honor George Floyd were targeted by vandals.

Eyewitness News spoke with Floyd's brother Terrence Floyd, who says he's saddened by the vandalism but not surprised because he says the hate still exists.

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