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Police crack down on alleged hate crimes
An arrest has been made in the defacing of two LGBTQ+ murals in Orlando that occurred in August, police said. It comes the same week that another man was arrested, accused of hanging Neo-Nazi banners from interstate overpasses.
ORLANDO, Fla. - An arrest has been made in the defacing of two LGBTQ+ murals in Orlando that occurred in August, police said.
Matthew Michael Robinson, 34, was arrested on Sept. 13 and charged with three counts of criminal mischief.
"We will be seeking enhancements for evidence of prejudice during the commission of these crimes," the Orlando Police Department said in a Wednesday Tweet announcing the arrest.
Matthew Michael Robinson, 34, was arrested on Sept. 13 and charged with three counts of criminal mischief. [Credit: Orlando Police Dept.]
"A few weeks is too long, but we're glad that this happened. We're glad that the community came together to support us in these efforts and that the Orlando Police Department did an amazing job with the investigation," said Heather Wilkie, the Executive Director of Zebra Youth.
Two murals, one belonging to The Center Orlando and the other to Zebra Youth, were vandalized on the evening of Friday, Aug. 25, according to a Facebook post from The Center.
The LGBTQ nonprofit organization posted a photo displaying one of the murals that was spray-painted with hateful messages.
"You feel so bad for the youth that we serve because it sends a direct message to them that, you know, someone out there wants to do something so harmful and spew messages of hate," Wilkie added.
The artist who created the art, Kim Murphy, was joined by Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan and staff from Zebra Youth as they repainted the murals the day after they were defaced.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke out against the incident last month, saying "Hate like this has no place in our city."
The suspect bonded out of jail on Thursday.