NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The NYPD is searching for two people who allegedly threw red paint on a Columbus Circle monument during a protest on Thursday.
Six people were arrested and statues were vandalized with paint as protesters clashed with police near Central Park on Thursday night, the NYPD said.
Police on Friday release surveillance photos of two people they say splashed paint onto the USS Maine Monument.
Statues at the USS Maine Monument were spray-painted with profanities and anti-police graffiti near the entrance to the park at Columbus Circle, video from the NYPD shows.
“We respect everyone’s right to peacefully protest, but vandalism is not part of peaceful protest. We are working to de-escalate the situation to prevent further damage from occurring,” the NYPD tweeted along with a video of the vandalized monument.
A bus and the outside of a restaurant were also spray-painted, according to WCBS-TV.
Police said six people were arrested for assault and damage to public property.
Video said to be from the scene shows police and protesters clashing in the area.
It’s unclear exactly what the demonstrators were protesting, but anti-police messages like “ACAB” and “F*** 12” were spray-painted on the USS Maine Monument.
The protest came two days after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd.
Two deadly police shootings — of Ma'Khia Bryant in Ohio and Daunte Wright in Minnesota — have also sparked recent protests.
Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the defacement of the monument at his press briefing on Friday, saying, “Folks who want to work for change, you know, vandalizing property, monuments, doesn’t achieve change. Assaulting, sometimes fellow protesters—we’ve seen some of that—or certainly assaulting police officers, does not achieve change. These are all the wrong ways to go about it.