The George Floyd memorial in Toledo, Ohio has been obliterated by a bolt of lightning that struck Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 pm local time. Eyewitness reports that the mural took a direct hit on an otherwise only partly cloudy day has, in fact, been backed by a Doppler radar scan that recorded a lightning strike at the same time in which the destruction took place.
The structure which held the display, formally the Mugshots Bar (no, really), has been noted for its poor integrity even by David Ross, the man who made the piece. Ross said in a statement that, while he was working on the wall, certain supporting structures could not be removed for the piece because the wall was unstable. This structural instability no doubts contributing to the extensive damage.
“Even God” began to trend on Twitter soon after as users began to mockingly and earnestly suggest that the lightning strike was an act of holy justice upon the movement that memorialized a man who was, indeed, no saint to speak of. While many other murals and memorials have been vandalized by mortal hands, this is the first such incident in which a BLM memorial was destroyed by nature itself. Spectators of the scene across the country are feeling vindicated in their beliefs that the veneration of Floyd is not a positive force.
BLM has seen a precipitous decline in its net support since the riots that have been ongoing in major urban centers and select suburban neighborhoods since last year. Currently, BLM’s net approval sits at an abysmal 3%. It would be curious to see how this figure is affected by this mysterious phenomenon.
The city government of Toledo is currently looking to have the memorial reconstructed at a different location.