A George Floyd mural in Toledo, Ohio was destroyed by a lightning strike last Tuesday.
The painting had been made on the side of an old bar, according to The Blade. The piece was blasted apart during a storm after 5 pm authorities reported.
The Toledo Fire and Rescue Department attributed the damage to a lightning blast as per witness accounts and an investigation of the area. However, Toledo City building inspector Hugh Koogan has said that the wall had been starting to crumble and likely just fell apart on its own.
“It was just age. It just came away,” Koogan said. “It happens to the older buildings.”
David Ross, the artist, who created the piece, says he thinks the mural was either demolished by an act of God or vandalism.
Regarding his work he said:
“When I did the mural, there was stuff on the wall that I couldn’t remove and that let me know how strong that structure was. The lightning thing, that’s possible, but I know it didn’t just fall.”
George Floyd died in police custody last year for using counterfeit money at a convenience store in Minneapolis. Ex-cop Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder recently and sentenced to 22.5 years behind bars.
— Kaitlin Durbin (@njKaitlinDurbin) July 13, 2021
Ever since his passing, cities across the country have been erecting monuments to Floyd as a result of the protests and riots in the country.
Before his death at the hands of police, he was arrested nine times, mostly on drug and theft charges, and went to prison a couple of times. In 2009 he pleaded guilty to armed robbery after he and a group of others robbed a home while the family was inside. His part in the robbery was detailed in a police officer’s report, as per Snopes:
“The largest of these suspects [Floyd] forced his way into the residence, placed a pistol against the complainant’s abdomen, and forced her into the living room area of the residence. This large suspect then proceeded to search the residence while another armed suspect guarded the complainant, who was struck in the head and side areas by this second armed suspect with his pistol after she screamed for help. As the suspects looked through the residence, they demanded to know where the drugs and money were and Complaint Henriquez advised them that there were no such things in the residence. The suspects then took some jewelry along with the complainant’s cell phone before they fled the scene in the black Ford Explorer.”
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