Floyd mural defaced by ‘supremacist’ symbol

A MURAL depicting the man who died while being detained by an American police officer has been defaced.

Dundee graffiti artist Symon Mathieson, also known as Syke, had shown his support for the Black Lives Matter movement by painting a portrait of George Floyd in the Hilltown.

Symon created the piece last week in an effort to show solidarity with those protesting against police brutality and to shine a light on racism in Scotland.

However, someone sprayed what appeared to be a white supremacist symbol over Floyd’s face. The

Celtic cross, which has been historically used by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, was used to spoil the artwork.

The Anti-Defamation League’s database of hate symbols describes the sign as “one of the most important and commonly used white supremacist symbols” and highlights its use by neo-Nazis, skinheads and the KKK.

The word “black” was also painted over in white paint, leaving the slogan at the bottom to read simply, “lives matter”.

Mr Floyd’s surname also had paint daubed over it.

Symon said: “This is clearly someone with a ridiculous opinion, and I think it proves my point that racism still exists here. This is still a massive problem. I’m ashamed of the people of Dundee.”

The artist plans to repair the damage in the best way he can.

He added: “I’m definitely going to try to do something once I have enough paint. I’m not going to let people get away with this.”

Joy Gansh, who organised the Black Lives Matter demonstration that was ultimately postponed due to Covid-19 concerns, has also been left disgusted.

She said: “It is a shock, but honestly I’m not really that surprised. I knew this was going to happen, I just didn’t think it would be so soon. It’s a slap in the face that they’ve decided to counter BLM with this vandalism.

“One of the worst parts is that you don’t know who did this. I think it’s pretty cowardly that people do things like this in such a sneaky way and hide it by doing it at night. It’s scummy.”

Mr Floyd’s death, which an autopsy has shown was caused by a police officer kneeling on his neck for close to nine minutes, has provoked outrage across the world.

The artist hoped his work would show solidarity while highlighting racism in Dundee.

The mural of George Floyd was obscured by a white supremacist symbol.

The graffiti covered up.