‘Parks and Rec’ actor charged with vandalizing a statue of George Floyd in New York City

New York City police arrested a man in connection with the vandalism of the recently-unveiled statue of George Floyd (Pictures: NYPD Crimestoppers / NBC / Getty)

New York City police have arrested a man in connection with the vandalism of a newly-unveiled, 10-foot-tall statue of the late George Floyd.

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force shared in a Tweet that it had charged 37-year-old Micah Beals with second-degree criminal mischief for allegedly tossing grey paint on the face of the statue, which had recently arrived in Manhattan’s Union Square Park.

Caught on video, the October 3 footage shows a man on a skateboard in broad daylight splattering grey paint across the statue of Floyd, which was part of a touring art installation called SEEINJUSTICE.

Following the arrest, several news outlets including Newsweek and People identified Beals as a small-time actor who uses the stage name Micah Femia.

Micah Beals, whose stage name is Micah Femia, has appeared on NBC’s ‘Parks and Recreation’ as well as on CSI: NY (Picture: NBC)

His IMDb page lists several small roles in short films and TV shows, though he might be most recognizable as the character Len, who appeared in a 2011 episode of NBC’s ‘Parks and Recreation.’

His other acting credits include the 2013 movie Pop Star, and a 2005 episode of CSI: NY, according to IMDb.

The vandalism targeted one of three monuments created by artist Chris Carnabuci that appeared in Union Square earlier this month.

The installation includes similar bronze busts of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year old black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville police in March 2020, and black civil rights leader John Lewis, who died last year.

Video footage of the vandalism shows a man on a skateboard throwing grey paint over the statue of Floyd (Picture: Zuma Press)

The statues of Taylor and Lewis were left untouched, police said at the time.

Confront Art, a community arts organization that helped organize the installation, thanked the NYPD for their work in a statement released on Instagram.

‘We do not consider this just an act of vandalism, but an act of hate,’ the group wrote. ‘Although the defacing of the statue was a disappointing day, we’ve experienced 30 days of true community building, joy and positivity from New Yorkers and visitors alike, and no vandal can deter from that.’

The statue of Floyd was also vandalized just days after it was first unveiled on Juneteenth in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. It was eventually moved to Union Square.

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