Vandal regrets defacing Floyd mural

MINNEAPOLIS — The widely recognized mural of George Floyd painted outside the south Minneapolis store where he died while in police custody was defaced Tuesday night, reportedly by a medical student who said he now regrets what he did.

The vandalism occurred despite volunteers keeping careful watch at the memorial on the corner of 38th Street and S. Chicago Avenue that has become a focal point for thousands stopping there to mourn Floyd and rally for social justice in the three months since his death.

“We will not allow something like this to distract us from our greater goal,” said Jeanelle Austin, lead caretaker for the Floyd memorial.

With volunteers at the corner Tuesday night, a man wearing a hoodie walked up to the mural on the side of Cup Foods about 10 p.m. and sprayed black paint over Floyd’s eyes and face, Austin said. Video from Cup Foods captured the vandalism.

The suspect, Daniel Michelson, 26, of Rochester, told The Minnesota Reformer, a local online news site, that he’d gotten drunk in his apartment and “didn’t realize” what he was doing. He said he had no memory of the incident.

“This is definitely a turning point for me,” he told the Reformer. “I was absolutely disgusted because that’s not at all representative of who I am or who I strive to be.”

Michelson, a medical student, added that he’s working with the community to make up for his deed and that he’ll pay for repairs to the mural and “anything else.”

“He caused harm to the community,” Austin said of the suspect. “He needs to be held responsible and take ownership of that. That has to happen.”

A Minneapolis police spokesman said Thursday that the department had not yet taken any vandalism reports or made any arrests in connection with the incident.

The vandalism comes as city officials are weighing how to reopen and preserve 38th and Chicago, which has been closed to vehicles since Floyd’s death. The city has allocated $100,000 to create a permanent memorial at the site.