Black Lives Matter Mural In Front Of Trump Tower Vandalized, Again
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A protester used blue paint to make a statement about a Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower, which has been targeted by vandals twice in one week.
Video caught two women splattering blue paint on the brand new mural. One of them, 39-year-old Juliet Germanotta, was wearing a rainbow flag, a "Keep America Great" face mask and an "All Lives Matter" shirt.
"It should be all lives. All includes Black lives, brown lives, white lives," Germanotta said.
"If cops wanted to put Blue Lives Matter, Dumbo will say no. De Blasio is Dumbo," another woman said.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. on Fifth Avenue, sparking screams of outage from some witnesses.
"How many of your people have died from police brutality?" one man asked Germanotta.
Germanotta had announced her plans to vandalize the mural on Facebook.
"So this Friday, 4 o'clock, at Trump Tower, operation paint drop," she said in a Facebook video, showing the cans of paint.
Mayor Bill de Blasio helped paint the mural last Thursday, saying it's a message to President Donald Trump.
This is already the second time it's been vandalized.
Police just put out more surveillance video of the suspect they're looking for in the first incident -- a man who splattered red paint on the mural on Monday.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
City Department of Transportation workers quickly repainted the mural after that incident, and they did again within hours after the second incident Friday.
The mural and the vandalism are sparking a range of opinions.
"It's encouraging to me actually [to see it restored]. Absolutely, 'cause the old America would just move on, but it just seems like the new America is ready for a change," tourist Jeffrey Bonsu told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
"That's not a mural, it's graffiti. And I think it's a disgrace that it's painted right here in front of the president's home," said Derrick Gibson, of Rego Park, Queens.
"You know, I hate it say it, I'm happy about [the vandalism]. It needs to go. Along with de Blasio, he needs to go, too," said John McGuigan, of Union, New Jersey.
"If you don't agree with it, you can respect it or respectfully disagree with it, but to come and throw paint on it, I think that's not nice at all," said Chanel Lindsay, of Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Germanotta and two others, 25-year-old D'Anna Morgan and 44-year-old Luis Martinez, were arrested and charged with criminal mischief in connection to Friday's vandalism. A 64-year-old woman was issued a summons for illegal posting of flyers.
