A mural painted outside Milwaukee City Hall that read 'Defund the Police' had a letter painted over it on Friday so that it read &...
A mural painted outside Milwaukee City Hall that read 'Defund the Police' had a letter painted over it on Friday so that it read 'Defend the Police'.
The original mural had been painted by about 30 activists on Wednesday to support what has become a nationwide movement to shift funds from police departments towards schools and youth programs.
But just two days later it had been tampered with to spell out 'Defend the Police.'
A street mural outside of Milwaukee City Hall was changed on Friday days after it was created
The painted words 'Defund the Police' were changed to 'Defend the Police'
This is how the mural appeared before another group of activists ended up altering the letters
Footage taken from a drone camera overhead shows the protesters artistic work
One woman took an impressive selfie standing in the middle of the letters painted on the road
The adjustment to the original phrase came after former Alderman Robert Donovan was seen to openly criticize the mural on social media on Wednesday night
The 'D' had been painted blue while the 'U' had been covered over and changed to an 'E', according to Urban Milwaukee.
The change was carried out by an anonymous group but their work was short-lived and by the end of Friday the 'U' had returned.
The adjustment to the original phrase came after former Alderman Robert Donovan who sat on Milwaukee Common Council was seen to openly criticize the mural on social media on Wednesday night.
'Fixed it for you, folks!' he tweeted along with a photograph showing the mural crossed out with a blue line.
The 'thin blue line' is a term for the police that is used to assert that they are the line which keeps society from descending into violent chaos.
The 'Defund the Police' movement began to gather momentum after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. This mural was pained in Washington DC
The words 'Defund the Police' were painted on Water Street near City Hall but were changed on Friday
The group behind the sudden change has managed to stay anonymous
Footage from a drone shows how the mural appeared before it was defaced
During his 20 years on Milwaukee's Common Council Donovan had long pushed for an increase in funding for the city's police department.
On Twitter a number of comments appeared to be praising the change.
'Defend the Police. A great idea,' wrote one user.
'I must find out who this hero is so I can buy him a beer. #Milwaukee #DefendThePolice,' added another.
'Outside Milwaukee City Hall, protesters paint "defund the police". In response, their graffiti gets changed to; "DEFEND the police".... Keep it going America! This needs to catch on across the country!' tweeted another online poster.
The 'Defund the Police' movement began to gather momentum after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
On Twitter a number of comments appeared to be praising the brief change
An overhead view of the street shows the mural in full directly outside City Hall
Late on Friday, the painting was changed again back to 'Defund the Police'
'People keep asking us, what does defund mean? It doesn't mean abolish,' said Jeremy Wilbur who was part of the group who painted the 'Defund the Police' mural.
'Let's make this clear for them, we don't hate cops,' he said in a Facebook Live video.
'Some people don't understand what defund the police means,' said another protester Brandon Wilborn to CBS58.
'It means to just like not get rid of the police, but take some of the money they're getting and putting it into the schools and housing and other places that it's needed.'
In Milwaukee, the Common Council are looking at the likely implications of a possible 10% cut to the Police Department's budget.
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