Fact Check

Was George Floyd Statue in NYC Defaced With White Nationalist Symbol?

Reports of the vandalism spread about a day before the sentencing hearing for Derek Chauvin, the ex-cop convicted of murdering Floyd.

Published June 25, 2021

NEW YORK, USA - JUNE 19: A George Floyd statue by artist Chris Carnabuci was unveiled as part of Juneteenth celebration in Brooklyn of New York City, United States on June 19, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Image Via Getty Images
Claim:
In late June 2021, a statue of George Floyd in New York City was vandalized with a label representing a white nationalist group.
Context

City and state authorities were investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.

In late June 2021, numerous reports circulated claiming a statue of George Floyd in New York City was vandalized and spray-painted with a white nationalist slogan less than a week after the monument was installed to commemorate Juneteenth.

The claim was true.

First, the 6-foot statue to memorialize the 46-year-old Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police in 2020 was unveiled on June 19 — the anniversary of one of the final acts of emancipation of slaves in the U.S.

Then, on the morning of June 24, the wooden monument was found covered in black spray paint, including an inscription in white spray paint reading, "PATRIOTFRONT.US," according to visual evidence from the scene on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and the New York City's police department (NYPD).

The "PATRIOTFRONT.US" label represents a group of white nationalists that was founded in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau, the same person who led a Neo-Nazi group called Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors far-right extremism.

SPLC describes Patriot Front as "an image-obsessed organization that rehabilitated the explicitly fascist agenda of Vanguard America with garish patriotism."

Lindsay Eshelman, who helped produce the statue, told ABC reporters the vandalism was devastating. "Someone in the name of hate, came through the night and defaced it. [...] They snuck in," Eshelman said. "They seem to be incredibly focused on patriotism. But, in my eyes, this was not 'patriotism', this was terrorism."

The NYPD was investigating the incident as a hate crime, which means detectives believed the suspects were motivated by racism, or other prejudice, to deface the monument.

Law enforcement officials told The New York Times that, at least twice, people with ties to the group have allegedly unveiled large banners bearing its slogans and other information across major avenues in New York City. CBS New York reported NYPD considered Patriot Front to be an organized extremist group.

As of this writing, authorities had not made any arrests, and it was unknown who exactly committed the crime.

NYPD had released photos from surveillance video supposedly showing four male suspects — one of whom Al Jazeera reported was holding a spray can — in the area just hours before the property destruction was discovered.

In the tweet displayed below, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said it was indeed a far-right extremist group that vandalized the statue, and that NYPD's investigation to find the individuals would lead to criminal charges.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo commented on the incident, too, posting the below-displayed statement in which he said he directed state authorities who investigate hate crimes to assist NYPD in making arrests.

"To the group of neo-Nazis who did this, I want to be absolutely clear: get the hell out of our state," the governor tweeted.

Around the same time, Chris Carnabuci, the artist who created the sculpture, told The New York Times that crews were working to remove the paint and fix any other damage to the statue, which is to remain in Brooklyn for several weeks before a planned move to Union Square in Manhattan.

“I’m saddened by it,” he told the newspaper, referring to the vandalism. "I''m not completely shocked."

Meanwhile, officials in Newark, New Jersey, were also searching for an individual or group that defaced a recently installed, 700-pound bronze statue of Floyd at City Hall, according to news reports.
Here's how the monument looked before the vandalism:
The statue's graffiti featured the web address of the same white supremacist group, reading: "LIFE...LIBERTY VICTORY PATRIOTFRONT.US," according to ABC7 New York.
"The defacing of the statue of George Floyd has been a trend around the country," Mayor Ras Baraka told reporters. "This horrible act is the very reason that this statue needs to remain and be upheld. As this is not just about George Floyd, it's a deliberate effort to push back against and ultimately dismantle systems of hatred, racism, and white supremacy."
News of the vandalism on the East Coast spread about a day before the former police officer who was convicted of murdering Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was scheduled to be sentenced in Minneapolis. He faced decades in prison, with several legal experts predicting a sentence of 20 to 25 years, The Associated Press reported.

Jessica Lee is Snopes' Senior Assignments Editor with expertise in investigative storytelling, media literacy advocacy and digital audience engagement.

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