Three attention-seeking vandals were cuffed Friday moments after they splattered blue paint all over the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower in Midtown.
Juliette Germanotta, 39, of West 40th Street in Midtown, along with Luis Martinez, 44, of 36th Street in Brooklyn and D’Anna Morgan, 25, of 168th Street in Queens, were each charged on July 17 with criminal mischief and released with a desk appearance ticket.
A fourth individual connected to the trio, a 64-year-old woman, was summonsed for illegally posting fliers at the scene.
Cops said the incident happened at 3:58 p.m. on July 17 at the mural painted near the front entrance to Trump Tower, at 725 5th Ave.
Video posted on Twitter shows the three suspects dumping and smearing blue paint across the yellow Black Lives Matter letters.
One woman, identified in published reports as Germanotta, went as far as to smear the paint by hand onto one of the letters. She’s seen on the video wearing an “all lives matter” t-shirt, a rainbow flag with the words “LGBT for Trump” in the corner, and a “Keep America Great” mask.
Many bystanders at the scene were outraged.
Group of Trump supporters splattered blue paint onto BLM mural outside Trump Tower, saying "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter". Four people were arrested.
Desk@scootercaster.com for licensing pic.twitter.com/DVw441PicV
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) July 17, 2020
It’s the second time the mural was vandalized in a week. On Monday, another vandal had dumped red paint across the message of unity and equality. The city quickly dispatched crews to remove the vandal then, and they did so after Friday’s incident.
The vandal behind Monday’s incident remains at large. On July 17, the NYPD released a new photo and video of the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at nypdcrimestoppers.com, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
