George Floyd’s younger brother, Terrence Floyd, stood in front of the sculpture and looked at the damage. On Saturday he spoke at the unveiling.

“This is a spit on my brother’s casket to me,” Terrence Floyd, 43, of Brooklyn said. “They just keep defacing him. Why do people hate him so much?”

When some of the passersby saw the damage, they got right to work cleaning it up.

“A few of us saw that the paint was still wet, so I ran to Blick and got supplies,” said Steve Constantine, 33, of  Austin, Texas. “Then we got a group together to clean it up.”

The now volunteers scrubbed and brushed off the grey paint that was poured on the face of the mahogany wood and bronze painted sculpture.

LaCrown Johnson, 28, of Brooklyn said the vandalism felt like another attack on Floyd, who was murdered by  now ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. He knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. His death sparked protests around the country in which justice was demanded  for Floyd and countless Black people killed by police.

This was not the first time this statue of Floyd was vandalized.  In June  four men threw black paint on the sculpture as it sat on display in Flatbush, Brooklyn.  Another Floyd statue in Newark was also defaced in June.

“This disgusting act can’t change this movement,” Johnson said.

A note from an anonymous person left at George Floyd’s statue in Union Square after a vandal threw grey paint on it.  Photo by Nathan Morris

Police footage show a man mixing paint behind the sculpture then getting on his skateboard and tossing the paint as he skates away.

The NYPD is looking for a suspect who is wanted for criminal mischief after defacing the new George Floyd statue in NYC’s Union Square Park, and they’re offering up to $3,500 for useful information. pic.twitter.com/jTYOMyrrSr

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 4, 2021

Adrienne Lotson, 59, of Harlem came to see the sculpture and was not surprised it was vandalized. 

“I came out because I knew it would happen eventually,” she said. 

Jesse Bolden, 28, of Manhattan said trying to destroy celebratory images of Floyd does not help anyone or anything. “They waste time doing this instead of putting their energy into something positive,” he said. “If it doesn’t make you feel some type of way, what kind of human are you?

This is the first outdoor exhibit for Confront Art, an organization that teams up with artists to create art related to social justice. 

Andrew Cohen, 44, a co-founder of the organization, was monitoring the cleanup of the statue.

 “They (police) said they will investigate this as a hate crime, but there’s no way of preventing this from happening again,” he said.

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Sexuality in the Square from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

Have a relationship problem? Or a sexual question? Too embarrassed to ask your doctor, family, or best friend? Look no further than Union Square. For the last five years, Francisco Ramirez has given average New Yorkers a friendly ear and advice twice weekly, for two hours each day, at no charge. The reason? He loves to listen and feels everyone needs someone to listen to them regardless of whether or not they can afford it.

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Qween Amor sets a subway scene from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

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Protestors held a rally with students from all over the city in Union Square today and marched along Fifth Avenue. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

Groups of NYPD officers stood armed at every corner inside the Union Square subway station this evening watching Occupy Wall Street protestors as they chanted and expressed opinions to anyone willing to listen. while outside in the square, students from all over the city joined protestors to rally against the 1 percent.

With the constant threat of being permanently banned from their headquarters, Zuccotti Park, protestors have decided to take action citywide, occupying subway stations in all five boroughs in hopes to educate those not already involved in the movement. They called it “A National Day oF Action” and in the end scores of protestors were arrested and several police officers injured.

Protestors gathered inside the Union Square station to try to engage commuters in conversation by sharing personal stories, hoping to highlight problems faced by the 99 percent.

“It’s to talk to people about what’s going on,” said Joe Chavez, 28, a protestor from East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “It’s not to shut the subways down, its not about taking them over. It’s about sharing our stories.”

The Occupied Wall Street Journal is the Occupy Wall Street Movement's personal newspaper, disseminating news about protests and the change they wish to see. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

In the station, protestors handed out free copies of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal,” the movement’s personal newspaper.

Michael Levitin, 35, from San Francisco, Calif. is one of the five editors of the paper. He was handing out free papers for commuters to read on the subway, further spreading the occupiers’ message. Levitan said the paper is funded by the more than 1,600 donors from around the world. The paper’s fifth issue, which will be a national one, will be launched next week.

Meanwhile, above ground, protestors and students from schools all over the city gathered at Union Square to hold a student rally and march along Fifth Avenue.

Ally Freeman, a student from the New School, attended the OWS student rally today in Union Square. She took out student loans for her education and worries about student debt affecting people her age. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

Ally Freeman, 18, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a literary studies major at The New School, said students are especially affected. She takes out student loans to pay high tuition prices, and said it’s time for young people to speak up.

“It’s really important that we be here, to show just because they’ve moved us out of Zuccotti Park doesn’t mean there isn’t still this movement,” Freeman said. “We’re still here and we’re still fighting.”

As for the threat of losing their home base of Zuccotti Park, some protestors said they aren’t worried.

Tielor McBride, 25, a protestor from Kansas City, said you can take an idea out of anywhere and the lack of space won’t slow down the movement.

“It was never about the park, it exists in the minds and the hearts of the people that believe in it,” he said.

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