Iconic George Floyd Mural At Cup Foods Vandalized Again, Called 'Satan's Mural'
The iconic George Floyd mural on the side of Cup Foods in south Minneapolis has again been vandalized.

By Minnesota Reformer/States Newsroom, News Partner
Oct 6, 2020 By Deena Winter




The iconic George Floyd mural on the side of Cup Foods in south Minneapolis has again been vandalized, this time with a vulgar and far more damaging defacement.

This marks the second time the mural has been vandalized since its creation after Floyd died outside the corner store at the hands of police.

Floyd died outside Cup at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue on Memorial Day after an employee called 911 to report he allegedly passed a fake $20 bill. The portrait of Floyd has since become ubiquitous.

Cup Foods spokesman Jamar Nelson confirmed the mural was vandalized at about 4 a.m. Saturday. The mural was spray painted with red paint that says "(Expletive) Walz Commies & Satan."

Nelson said Cup Foods got video of a suspect in black clothes casing the mural and suddenly vandalizing it within a few seconds, and will turn it over to police in the hope the vandal will be caught. The video shows what appears to be a thin male, wearing black from head to toe and a white mask, spray on the mural and then step back and take photos.

"This shouldn't be tolerated in our nation where beautiful memorials are defaced by people with hate… and so the store will continue to stand for the community," he said. "There's no room for any type of hate like this."

Marcia Howard, one of the local people who patrols the four-block area around Cup Foods, wrote on Facebook Monday that the people in charge of George Floyd Square "got ahead" of the vandal's plans to deface the mural.

"We saw him, he scampered away on his bike, and he bragged about his getaway as if he'd escaped the maw of death itself," Howard wrote.

The volunteer security force in the square does not call the police, and puts "people over property," according to Howard. When a previous vandal spray-painted Xs over Floyd's eyes, the volunteers caught him but didn't call police and ultimately let the vandal go. He was later outed as a medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School and admitted the vandalism in a Reformer interview.

Howard posted what appears to be a cryptic, rambling screed by the vandal, who speaks of a "day of reckoning," in which he will "thrust my blade through the beast's eyes" until "Satan's idol lays silent."

Howard wrote that "This man came armed, ready to fight to the death and seemed incredibly disappointed that he wasn't engaged beyond being spooked away."

Howard did not respond to a request for comment, but wrote on Facebook that the "community (is) still united against systemic racism. We good."

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can't or won't tell..