The owner of the legendary Laugh Factory in Hollywood has a question for the person who defaced his George Floyd mural, not once, but five times.
“What is this hatred coming from? What is causing people to hate each other so much?” asked Laugh Factory founder and CEO Jamie Masada.
The mural depicts George Floyd who was killed by a now-former Minneapolis police officer, the names of other victims of police killings and the words “We the People.” The LA Times reported that the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the vandalism.
“This is not some kid with a spray can. This is an act of hate,” Laugh Factory communications director Greg Waskul told the paper.
“It’s very, very sad that this is where we’re at in the community.”
Masada said he has a video of the man vandalizing the mural earlier this week. He also said this is the fifth time the mural has been vandalized and it’s the most serious of the defacements. The whole mural appeared to be smeared with white paint.
The vandal was wearing a white hoodie and brought a number of cans of paint to the comedy club, according to Masada’s footage. Masada is planning to restore the mural, but the destruction costs the business a bundle each time.
“It cost us each time $3,000, $4,000,” to clean the building and place the mural, said Masada.
The paper also reported that MuckRock, the artist who painted the mural, planned to return to the Laugh Factory to fix the work on Saturday. She texted that she would “probably just repaint the mural, depending how badly it’s covered.”
Masada invited the vandal to the Laugh Factory so he says the vandal can get the help they need.
“They are not making any statement. The statement of hate doesn’t mean anything. We don’t have a space for it anymore,” he said.