Upstate New York Man Arrested, Charged with Hate Crime After Witnesses Claim They Saw Him Vandalizing BLM Mural
An Upstate New York man has been arrested and charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime after law enforcement officials claimed he vandalized a Black Lives Matter street mural. According to witnesses Ian Rawlinson, 43, to Albany police on Thursday, Sept. 16, for defacing the Lark Street mural. Once officers arrived, Rawlinson already left the scene, but they noticed he’d spray-painted miscellaneous racist symbols, including a burning cross and “KKK” in white paint.
He was arrested and arraigned on Friday, Sept 17. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the painting of KKK on the mural was “clearly disturbing” and certainly a “racially motivated crime,” the Times-Union reported.
“It does not reflect what we think of our city, as being a place of diversity and welcoming,” Sheehan said. “The speed with which this issue was addressed speaks to how all of us in city government think there is no place for this hatred in the city of Albany.”
The Albany Police Department has since released a statement about the case, “43-year-old Ian Rawlinson of Albany has been charged with Criminal Mischief 4th as a hate crime. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Albany Criminal Court.”
According to Sheehan, the department of general services has cleaned the graffiti. She also added that when she visited the scene, witnesses told her that they thought Rawlinson “might have had mental health or substance abuse issues.”
The street Black Lives Matter mural was created in June 2020, organized by the group In Our Own Voices, and was repainted in August 202 according to CBS 6 Albany.
“We wanted to focus on making sure justice … that we are still in the fight for liberation,” Tandre R. LaGrone, CEO of the group In Our Own Voices, told the news s tation last month. “Last year, we did the sketching, and we used some city funding to get it done…but it was spearheaded by In Our Own Voices. This year, we raised and used-donated donations of the paint to get this done.”
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