Two church leaders were arrested Friday night outside the Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg as state workers began removing street murals across the Tampa Bay area.
Police say Andy Oliver, 45, and Benedict Atherton-Zeman, 59, were taken into custody after they sat on the road in front of the museum in an apparent attempt to block Florida Department of Transportation workers from removing the museum's Black Lives Matter mural.
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Oliver is pastor of the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg. Atherton-Zeman is a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg.
Police say they arrested the men after 8 p.m. after repeated warnings to move. Jail records show they were arrested on a charge of obstruction and released early Saturday morning on $500 bail.
Shortly after being released, Oliver posted a note on his Facebook account that said, "Black history still matters… if you look hard at the picture, you can see that even Ron’s paint couldn’t fully hide that truth. Carter G. Woodson’s words echo to us in this moment: 'Let us banish fear… I am a radical. I am ready to act, if I can find brave [people] to help me.' "
Earlier Friday, state officials began painting over a geographic and marine-themed mural that has graced one of the main intersections on the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus for more than two years.
By Saturday evening, four of the five St. Petersburg street murals on the state's list to be removed had been.
The one left was the "Rainbow Progress Pride" crosswalk at Central Avenue and 25th Street.
In addition, 10 murals painted by Plant High School students outside their Tampa school were painted over by FDOT crews.
Spectrum Bay News 9 reports about 40 students designed, raised funds and installed the murals about two years ago with the help of the nonprofit Sidewalk Stompers. The project, which addressed student safety, received a planning and design award from the Hillsborough County Planning Commission last year.
Murals across the state — including the rainbow-colored crosswalk to honor the victims of the Pride nightclub shooting in Orlando — were targeted for removal after FDOT called them a safety issue, and Gov. Ron DeSantis said streets should not be used for political or ideological messages.
DeSantis ordered that the murals be removed by Sept. 4.
