Source: BRYAN R. SMITH / Getty
The New York Police Department have caught the person who was spotted allegedly vandalizing a statue of the late George Floyd in Union Square Park in New York City.
Through their Twitter account, the NYPD Hate Crimes department announced the arrest of actor Micah Beals on Monday (October 25th), charging him with second-degree criminal mischief. This was a follow-up to their initial tweet, which showed Beals captured on camera on October 3rd at 10:15 A.M. dressed in a green jacket and black shorts riding a skateboard around the statue, which is part of a public art installation entitled #SeeInjustice by Chris Carnabuci that includes statues of the late Representative John Lewis and Breonna Taylor. The footage then shows the culprit throwing grey paint onto the bronze statue of Floyd, circling it once before riding off.
Beals, professionally known as Micah Femia, is an actor from Grand Rapids, Michigan who had small roles in Parks and Recreation, CSI: NY as well as That’s So Raven among other television shows. He also has a number of appearances in commercials, with Walmart and Volkswagen among them. This incident isn’t the 37-year old’s first time running afoul of the law. According to reports from Heavy.com, the actor was detained by the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. on January 6th, 2021 after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building for violating curfew as part of a group of others from Michigan also present at the riot. Records from the court show that the case is still pending. Beals has a significant rap sheet, with arrests in multiple states including Washington State, California and his native Michigan going back to 2002. There is no word on if Beals has entered any plea to the charge.
The bust of Floyd was repaired shortly afterward thanks to the help of volunteers who chipped in to buy materials for the job. Confront Art co-founder Andrew Cohen issued a statement after the vandalism incident to praise those who took part in the repair effort.
