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A California mural in honor Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was followed while jogging in a suburb of Georgia and was later shot dead, was defaced.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, it is unclear when the portrait of Arbery with light pink paint was destroyed. The picture of the 25-year-old was on the now boarded-up windows of the Pekin Cafe Chop Suey restaurant on University Ave.
A spokesman for the San Diego Police Department, Lt. Adma Sharki said his office was only made aware of the vandalism after reporters inquired about the incident on Tuesday, November 30, and revealed that no one had reported it. When the authorities contacted the landowners, they declined to investigate.
Ahmaud Arbery mural (Screengrab San Diego Union-Tribune)
The mural also featured Breonna Taylor, a paramedic who died on Jan.
Johnny Pucci, the artist behind the mural, told reporters he was surprised the mural wasn’t destroyed sooner. “Given the state of the nation, I’m really surprised it took so long,” said the 35-year-old artist. The tribute was painted just days after George Floyd died in May 2020 in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Pucci said several people contacted him through Instagram and notified him of the damage, many of whom were upset besides him, the artist said. “I’m not angry,” said Pucci.
“It doesn’t make me angry, it just disappoints me. How does it come that someone sees a painting of someone who has been murdered with a message that says, ‘Spread love’ and they say, ‘No, I don’t like that?’ “He plans to fix the mural when he returns from a trip out of the country.
Pamuela Halliwell, a North Park resident and president of the San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition, told the outlet she was “shocked” when she first noticed the damage while driving home from work last month. The scene caused her to stop and snap a picture which she later shared on her social media page.
The story goes on
“It’s disgusting, it’s shameful, it’s disappointing and disrespectful to the fact that (Arbery) was killed by these three people who had absolutely nothing to do with him,” she told reporters.
Last November, the three men involved in Arbery’s murder, Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, were all convicted of murder and wrongful imprisonment, aggravated assault and the criminal attempt to commit a crime. You have also faced federal hate crime charges. The federal process is due to begin in February.
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