Columbus Circle cleanup begins: Workers scrub anti-police graffiti and fake blood off NYC landmark after it was vandalized by BLM protesters on another night of unrest
Workers have begun attempting to remove graffiti and fake blood from a monument in Manhattan's Columbus Circle intersection after it was targeted in a Black Trans Lives Matter protest.
A clean-up crew that appeared to be from the Central Park Conservancy was seen scrubbing red paint from the USS Maine National Monument on Friday morning.
It proved to be an arduous task, taking hours of scrubbing, power washing and re-painting to clean the site, where protesters the night before spray-painted messages including 'Trans Lives Matter,' 'Stop killing kids,' 'ACAB' - which stands for 'all cops are bas***ds'.
One of the largest messages read: 'Stonewall was a riot,' referring to the demonstrations members of the LGBT community held in 1969 in protest of a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at a gay bar.
Workers began attempting to remove graffiti and fake blood from a monument in Manhattan's Columbus Circle intersection on Friday morning after it was targeted in a Black Trans Lives Matter protest the night before
The USS Maine Monument in Columbus Circle was vandalized with anti-police messages at a Black trans lives matter protest
A man is seen power-washing paint off of the USS Maine Monument at Columbus Circle on Friday afternoon
The monument created in 1912 is dedicated to the 258 American sailors who were on board the ship when it exploded in Havana harbor in February 1898, contributing to the onset of the Spanish-American War
The crews worked throughout the day trying to scrub away the messages the protesters left
On Thursday evening protesters set out from the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, the site of a series of violent riots that led to the advancement of equality for the LGBTQ community.
The group made their way to Columbus Circle, where they began to deface the USS Maine National Monument.
The monument created in 1912 is dedicated to the 258 American sailors who were on board the ship when it exploded in Havana harbor in February 1898, contributing to the onset of the Spanish-American War.
The battleship had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Havana in January 1898.
The cause of the explosion was never conclusively determined but the disaster was used to justify the war against Spain which lasted eight months.
In the days after the sinking of the USS Maine, the publisher of the New York Journal, William Randolph Hearst, called for the public memorial to be built to honor the lost sailors.
The NYPD raised alarm about the demonstration at around 11pm Thursday, tweeting: 'We respect's everyone 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 crews tried to power spray the graffiti off of the monument
Protesters on Thursday night splashed red paint resembling blood on the century-old structure
They prepared for the cleanup early on Friday, and continued working well into the afternoon
The police roped off the site as Central Park crews worked on the clean-up
Removing the paint and graffiti proved to be an arduous task that took hours of scrubbing on Friday
By the end of the night six people were arrested on charges ranging from assault to damage to public property, ABC News reported.
In a video mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa tweeted on Friday, he alleged that the protesters had been set free.
'Some were arrested and turned right loose because of Mayor Bill De Blasio and this city, who doesn't have the back of the cops,' Sliwa said in the video, standing in front of the vandalized USS Maine National Monument.
He vowed that if he were elected mayor in November, he would crack down on anti-police violence and graffiti.
'When you commit these kinds of crimes, you're going to do time, you can bet on that,' Sliwa, a Republican, said. 'You're not going to be able to desecrate these monuments or curse out the police on a regular basis without consequence.'
Sliwa has previously called for 'refunding the police,' saying in a news conference last week that he wants to increase the number of officers to 38,000, about 3,000 more than there are currently are.
An unidentified NYPD officer patrolled the area during the cleanup efforts on Friday
Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa vowed that if he were mayor, anyone who 'desecrates these monuments or curse out the police on a regular bases' will face consequences
The 66-year-old founder of the Guardian Angels civilian patrol group proposed making Madison Square Garden and wealthy private universities pay their taxes, which could be used to increase NYPD funding.
Sliwa said he wants the department to be back at 38,000 police officers. There are currently about 35,000.
'So the specificity of the plan is to use that special allotment of property tax and apply it to refunding the police, giving them back $1 billion that was taken out of their $6 billion budget,' Sliwa explained at the news conference.
He also called for the return of stop-and-frisk as a policing tool, a controversial practice critics say resulted in racial profiling.
During the protest on Thursday, hundreds of protesters were filmed clashing with police in a chaotic melee.
The police regularly patrol the area because it's near a statue of Christopher Columbus, which some have called to be removed, and also near the Trump International Hotel.
It is not clear what kicked off the chaotic scene.
But the Twitter account Protest NYC claimed that the group had participated in a 'night of peaceful protesting' before the massive brawl.
'NYPD waited for most protesters to leave, and then swarmed those remaining on the sidewalk. Police targeted organizers,' the account claimed.
'Over 200 police surrounded the park where the peaceful protest against police violence had already dispersed to arrest organizers.'
A person that appears to be a protester is seen on the ground underneath a group of police officers
The NYPD said on Thursday that at least two people had been arrested during the protest
The protest was part of weekly 'Stonewall Protests' — which according to its Instagram are 'demonstrations by black queer and black trans activists centered on the acknowledgment of all black life.'
Some were seen carrying signs that read 'Justice for Ma'Khia Bryant' - referring to the 16-year-old girl who was shot by Columbus, Ohio police earlier this week.
The NYPD wouldn't provide specifics when asked by DailyMail.com for details on what happened, saying they were still gathering details from officers on the scene.
Several protesters were seen brawling with NYPD officers while others threw an unidentified liquid at them, video shows. One protester was seemingly heard on video attempting to spit on cops.
'What the f**k is wrong with you?' one person on the video screams at police as officers grabbed protesters.
The protesters and cops were seen shoving and punching each in the brawl while one protester fell to the ground.
Video showed officers trying to arrest a protester and crowding around a cab as the woman tried to flee. Other protesters tried to block their move. It is unclear whether an arrest was made.
The protest came as the US grapples with the Ma'Khia Byrant shooting in Ohio, the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict over George Floyd's murder and the funeral for Daunte Wright, who was shot by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Though the protest ended in Columbus Circle, the protesters did not appear to have vandalized a controversial statue of Christopher Columbus also located in the area.
Earlier this year, police were revealed to be still guarding that statue around the clock while displays of Confederate symbols or other figures deemed racist have been taken down or toppled across America in recent months.
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