After a viral video showed a man and a woman attempting to deface a Black Lives Matter mural in front of a Martinez courthouse, the Contra Costa County district attorney announced today that the pair is being charged with three misdemeanors, including a hate crime.
The incident unfolded on July 4, hours after another resident completed the mural, which features the words “Black Lives Matter” in large, yellow letters on the asphalt. The original mural was permitted by the city, whose demographic makeup is 75% white and 3.6% Black, according to the latest census estimates. Hours after it was completed, Martinez residents Nichole Anderson, 42, and David Nelson, 53, allegedly arrived with buckets of paint and rollers; Anderson attempted to cover the letters with black paint while Nelson yelled at onlookers, shouting “Keep America great again” and “All lives matter.”