Skateboarder who defaced George Floyd statue in Union Square caught on video

By Edward Era Barbacena

A memorial in honor of the late George Floyd was vandalized by a skateboarder in Manhattan, who authorities said doused the statue in silver paint over the weekend.

Video released by cops early Monday captures the moment a vandal on a skateboard tossed paint on a George Floyd statue in Union Square. 

On Sunday, at around 10 a.m., police obtained video depicting the male assailant defacing the statue, which sits in Union Square. 

The clip caught the unidentified suspect ducking behind a nearby statue of the late Rep. John Lewis around 10:15 a.m. Sunday and messing with something in his backpack before he skateboarded toward the Floyd installation. 

Footage shows the vandal taking off on his skateboard while throwing silver paint on Floyd's bust, a police spokesman said. 

Two people — apparently an adult and child — were standing nearby as the suspect flung the paint, thwarting the adult’s attempt to take a photo of the statue, the footage shows. 

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.

The suspect is described as a male with who was obviously WHITE and medium build, last seen wearing a black hat, a dark green jacket, a neon green T-shirt, black shorts, black and white sneakers and a green backpack.

On Twitter, a video was posted showing what appears to be silver paint splattered on the statue, which was also defaced days after it was first unveiled on Juneteenth in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. 

The spokesman said police do not intend on releasing the video. Cops have yet to comment on whether they believe the motivation for the attack was racism. 

The statue was recently moved to the Manhattan park.   

Additional statues that remain nearby are Rep. John Lewis and Breonna Taylor. Taylor was a 26-year-old black woman who was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky police in last year. 

Police said Lewis' and Taylor's statues were left unharmed.    

In June, Floyd's bust was smeared with black paint and marked with the phrase 'Patriot Front' — a white nationalist hate group.