PHILADELPHIA — A mural of George Floyd in the Olney section of Philadelphia was defaced with white nationalist graffiti on Friday.
The mural was commissioned by the North 5th Street Revitalization Project after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd last year.
The community group told the Inquirer that the mural, which is located on the corner of North 5th Street and West Olney Avenue, was vandalized sometime overnight. 6ABC was first to report the vandalism, which featured the words Patriot Front spray painted on the white-washed mural. The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear who is responsible for vandalizing the mural.
Patriot Front is a white nationalist hate group that formed in the wake of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Anti-Defamation League says followers of the extremist ideology espouse “racism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance” under the guise of preserving the “ethnic and cultural origins” of their European ancestors.
Floyd’s murder led to widespread protests across the country last summer, including in Philadelphia, where demonstrations quickly grew in size and intensity and lasted several weeks. Floyd was recently honored with rallies and moments of silence in Minneapolis a year after his murder, and President Joe Biden met with his family at the White House.
