Florida Men Arrested Over Black History Matters Mural Clash

A pair of Florida men are in the news for making what the late Rep. John Lewis used to call “good trouble” after police in St. Petersburg, Florida, alleged that the pair attempted to block Florida Department of Transportation crews from painting over a “Black History Matters” mural.

According to Fox 13 Tampa Bay, Andrew Oliver, 45, and Benedict Atherton-Zeman, 59, brought a stop to an attempt to paint over a street mural by walking past police officers and sitting down in the middle of the street, directly on top of the mural set to be painted over.

Per the police account of the situation, the two men were attempting to block FDOT machinery. The St. Petersburg police officers who spoke to the outlet indicated that the two men were repeatedly warned to move, but they declined to acquiesce to the demands of the police, so they were arrested and later booked on charges of pedestrian(s) obstructing or hindering traffic and obstruction.

Per their reporting, the two-man peaceful protest stems from Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis signing Senate Bill 1662 into law in June. Purportedly, the bill aims to keep transportation facilities (which apparently has been expanded to include roads) clear of any kind of political ideology.

However, the city had requested that the state make an exception for several murals including a Pride mural, a mural on the campus of the University of South Florida, and the aforementioned Black History Matters mural outside of the Woodson African American History Museum, which it defended by providing crash data that proved that not all street murals posed the danger that the state said they did.

Despite this effort, the request from the city was denied by the FDOT, and although city officials disagreed with the decision from the state entity, in an August 25 press conference, St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch urged residents to be strategic and not reactionary regarding the decision from the State of Florida.

As the outlet reported, St. Petersburg’s leaders did not want to risk losing critical funding from the state, similar to how the Trump administration has sought to punish local governments that don’t adhere to its anti-diversity, equity and inclusion stance by withholding critical funding.

“These murals are more than paint on pavement. They are expressions of our community identity and values. As the mayor of our city, I will not risk these essential investments in a fight I don’t believe we can win,” Welch said in the press conference. “That would be irresponsible leadership and detrimental to our city in the long run. But make no mistake, this is not the end of the story. Our response will be strategic, not reactionary.”

According to CBS 12, in keeping with Mayor Welch’s response, leaders of other cities, including Delray Beach’s Vice-Mayor Rob Long, have called attention to the fact that the removal of these murals is not about public safety, but DeSantis and the Republican Party’s war on culture and inclusion, which often targets Black Americans and LGBTQ+ individuals.

“Let’s be honest. We all know that this is not about traffic safety this is political,” Long said. “It’s a part of same culture war climate where symbols of inclusion are targeted precisely because they represent acceptance. It’s about erasing the visibility of the LGBTQIA+ people.”

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