Woman allegedly attempts to deface Fresno Black Lives Matter street art
A woman allegedly intended to deface the Black Lives Matter street art in front of Fresno City Hall on Thursday evening. The painting remains intact.
Monica Jordan posted on the For the Love of Downtown Fresno Facebook page about the confrontation she said she and her husband, local business owner Jacob Jordan, had just hours after the huge mural was completed during a city-sponsored event.
The names of the three women seen in the video are not known.
Monica Jordan said she and her husband were on a bike ride when they saw a woman approaching the street art with a can of paint.
Jacob Jordan asked her what she planned to do with the paint, and she replied, “Whatever I want to do.” When the woman set down the can and pulled out a paint key, he took away the can.
That’s when Monica Jordan started filming.
Jordan held the can as he biked around the P Street roadway. The woman chased after him, at times walking, at times running. A man can be heard yelling, “She’s trying to paint it black.”
Meanwhile, Monica argued with two other women who appeared to accompany the woman with the paint. One woman said she didn’t see race and that “all lives matter.”
Monica said two police officers witnessed the event from across the street but did not intervene.
City spokesman Mark Standriff said he could not verify whether police officers were present.
He said painting over the mural would have been a code violation because the Municipal Code prohibits the painting of city streets and curbs without a special permit, like the one obtained for the artwork.
“We are aware of attempts to vandalize the Black Lives Matter street art project but nothing actually defaced the temporary painting on P Street,” Standriff said. “Our security team will remain vigilant in monitoring any unusual activity in front of City Hall.”
About 200 people came together in front of City Hall on Thursday morning to paint “BLACK LIVES MATTER” on the P Street roadway.
“BLACK” was painted in yellow; “LIVES” in yellow, white, purple and black; “MATTER” in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
The Fresno City Council proclaimed Thursday “Black Lives Matter Day.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 6:16 PM.