Two pastors were arrested Saturday night as they attempted to block state crews from covering up a street mural, according to St. Petersburg Police.
Police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said in a news release that Florida Department of Transportation crews arrived to paint over a Black History Matters street mural outside the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, 2240 9th Ave. S in St. Petersburg, around 8 p.m. Friday.
About 15 minutes later, Rev. Andy Oliver, an activist and pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church, and Benedict Atherton-Zeman, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church, walked by police officers and sat down in the road on the mural to block state machinery, Fernandez wrote.
She said officers warned them to move, but they refused and were arrested. Both were charged with misdemeanor counts of obstruction and obstructing or hindering traffic as a pedestrian and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. Online records show they were released on cash bond just before 5 a.m. Saturday.
The mural was ultimately covered up.
“Black history still matters,” Oliver wrote on Facebook early Saturday. “If you look hard at the picture, you can see that even Ron’s paint couldn’t fully hide that truth.”
The state last month issued a memo to make all roads uniform, giving new orders to eliminate non-compliant street art to keep roads “free and clear of political ideologies.” St. Petersburg asked for an exemption for five street murals but was denied by state officials. St. Petersburg announced last week that it would comply with the state order and let state crews cover up the street art, though the city would be on the hook for reimbursement.
Other cities are pushing back, but Mayor Ken Welch said Monday that city attorneys advised him that there was no winning legal path forward. He said he would not risk the city losing state funding, calling such a move “irresponsible leadership.”
Welch encouraged residents to visit mural sites and take photos. But he urged them: “Obey the law. Don’t take the bait.”
State crews on Friday also covered up a University of South Florida-themed crosswalk at USF St. Petersburg’s campus at Sixth Avenue South and Second Street and a geometric design at the intersection of 11th Avenue South and 46th Street in the Childs Park neighborhood.
That leaves two murals slated for removal by Sept. 4: The “Common Ground” colorful intersection at Central Avenue and Fifth Street that was found to reduce crashes by 70% and a progressive pride mural at Central Avenue and 25th Street.
An event called #StandUpStPete is taking place Sunday at the pride mural. Residents are invited to make chalk art at surrounding intersections and take photos of the mural. Wearing rainbow pride colors and T-shirts with messages of “community, pride, love, art, diversity, Black history matters and trans rights and freedom” is encouraged, according to a widely shared post online.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
