Black Lives Matter mural defaced after a day in NC city where Andrew Brown was killed
A man is arrested after a Black Lives Matter mural was defaced one day after it was painted in the North Carolina town where sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr., video from Sunday shows.
Footage shared with news outlets shows tire marks covering three letters of the new street art in Elizabeth City, roughly 165 miles northeast of Raleigh. The skid marks were discovered after an artist had finished painting the words “Black Lives Matter” onto the pavement.
“I was utterly disgusted to learn that just hours after we dedicated it that an individual would try to defame and deface that, after the artist worked so hard to make that a reality,” Elizabeth City council member Darius Horton said, according to WVEC.
The city police department on Tuesday said it investigated the case and arrested Jeremy Wayne Maggard, 32. He is accused of reckless driving and injury to real property after he was behind the wheel of a Dodge Ram, according to officials.
The police department’s news release didn’t list attorney information for Maggard.
Horton in a Facebook post shared photos of the pickup truck seen driving over the mural.
“Silly Rabbit tricks are for kids,” he wrote in Monday’s post. “Do you think we would invest in a mural and not have adequate surveillance. You sir are going down!”
Elizabeth City leaders paved the way for the mural after voting 5-1 in May to begin the search for someone to paint “Black Lives Matter” in front of their public safety building, which is home to the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office.
On April 21, Pasquotank sheriff’s deputies were executing a search warrant in Elizabeth City when they fired at Brown, a 42-year-old Black man. District Attorney Andrew Womble said in May Brown’s shooting death was justified and didn’t charge deputies.
The shooting took place one day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on murder charges in the death of George Floyd, another Black man. Floyd died in May 2020 after video showed the officer kneeling on his neck for around 9 minutes.
Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for police reform. In the weeks that followed, cities across North Carolina discussed putting up art with messages against racism or the phrase “Black Lives Matter.”
It’s not the first time a street mural about racial inequality was defaced in North Carolina.
In July 2020, photos show paint covered “Black Lives Do Matter” and “End Racism Now” street art in Fayetteville, the birthplace of Floyd. The art had surrounded the Market House, where slaves had once been sold.
A month earlier, officials said a mural made as a tribute to Floyd was vandalized with spray paint outside a Greensboro restaurant.
In the latest case, Elizabeth city officials are still investigating and urge anyone with information to call 252-335-4321 or 252-335-5555.
This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Black Lives Matter mural defaced after a day in NC city where Andrew Brown was killed."
