Orlando Police announced Wednesday evening that Matthew Michael Robinson, 34, was arrested Sept. 13 and charged with three counts of criminal mischief for defacing murals at The Center and Zebra Youth along Mills Avenue.
The murals were defaced Aug. 25 with anti-LGBTQ+ language, according to a social media post from The Center. Messages like “Gay is not OK” and “Save kids’ eyes from trans lies” as well as swastikas and Iron Crosses covered the murals. A sign was also stuck to the wall reading “Knights of the Black Sun,” a known white nationalist and neo-Nazi group.
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Kim Murphy, the artist who created the murals, was joined by Zebra Youth staff, City Commissioner Patty Sheehan and other community members to paint over the messages almost immediately. The job was done in less than 24 hours after the murals were found vandalized.
Orlando Police say the investigation is ongoing and encourage anyone with information related to the incident report it to the Orlando Police Criminal Investigations Division or to the anonymous Central Florida Crimeline.
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This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2023.
