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George Floyd mural in Minneapolis defaced with black paint

A portrait of George Floyd and the phrase "I can't breathe" is painted on the boarded-up storefront of the Apple store in downtown Portland. This week it was repaired by the original artist after being vandalized over the weekend. August 10, 2020 (KOIN)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Someone has defaced a giant mural of George Floyd at the Minneapolis intersection where he died in May.

Someone sprayed black paint on the mural on the side of a food market, the Star Tribune reported. A Minneapolis police spokesman says the department hasn’t taken any reports about the vandalized mural, however.

Other Floyd murals around the country have reportedly been defaced, including in Rochester, Minnesota; Long Beach, California; and Portland, Oregon.

Floyd, who was Black, died on Memorial Day after four Minneapolis police officers arrested him for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at the food market. The officers held him down on his stomach in the street while he was handcuffed. A white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes even as Floyd said he could not breathe.

His death sparked global protests against racism and police brutality.