Actor Micah Beals arrested for vandalizing George Floyd statue in NYC
A person has been arrested after allegedly defacing a bronze statue of George Floyd in New York Metropolis earlier this month.
Micah Beals, 37, was charged with prison mischief after surveillance video confirmed a white man on a skateboard splash grey paint on the statue within the metropolis’s Union Sq. then fleeing on Oct. 3, the New York Police Division’s hate crimes activity drive tweeted Monday.
Underneath the stage title Micah Femia, Beals has performed small roles on “Parks and Recreation” and “CSI: New York,” the Sacramento Bee, The Hill and People Magazine reported. Beals first appeared on “CSI: New York” in 2005 and likewise starred within the 2013 film “Pop Star,” according to IMDb.
Beals’ lawyer, Rebecca Heinsen of Authorized Assist society, informed USA TODAY she has no remark presently.
This month’s incident wasn’t the primary vandalism of the statue memorializing Floyd, whose homicide by a Minneapolis police officer final 12 months led to nationwide protests demanding police accountability and reform. 5 days after the statue was unveiled on Juneteenth, it was defaced with black paint and the brand of a bunch outlined as white supremacists by the Southern Poverty Regulation Middle.
The group that put in the statue cleaned it. Shortly after it was vandalized once more in October, a group of volunteers gathered to wash the statue as soon as once more.
“At present was powerful, however the great thing about as we speak was that once we arrived to refurbish the statue, we discovered group members and allies already onerous at work, out of their very own goodwill, scrubbing and dealing to honor the integrity of the artwork and the facility of the topic,” community arts organization Confront Art said after the vandalism.
The statue of Floyd is a part of Confront Artwork’s SEEINJUSTICE exhibit.
The group thanked NYPD in a statement following the arrest, saying: “We don’t think about this simply an act of vandalism, however an act of hate.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Twitter following the incident that she directed NYPD’s hate crimes activity drive to assist examine.
“This act of cowardice and hate is reprehensible,” she mentioned.
“The defacing of Floyd as we speak did not come as an entire shock, although it’s fairly upsetting to us all,” the statue’s artist, Chris Carnabuci, said in an Oct. 3 statement. “Actions like this remind us that we now have a protracted technique to go, and we’ll by no means cease combating.”
Contact Information Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or observe her on Twitter at @christinetfern.