Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
After Dropping Paint On Black Lives Matter Mural At Trump Tower, Same Vandal Seen Defacing Harlem And Brooklyn Murals
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Jul 19, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
ALON SICHERMAN FOR NEW KINGSTON MEDIA
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Jul 19, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A Black woman wearing a Jesus Matters T-shirt who was arrested for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower on Saturday was seen on a livestream video hours later splattering paint onto the BLM mural in Harlem.
Bevelyn Beatty, 29, posted a livestream video about midnight Saturday night with a group of people driving over the mural and pouring buckets of paint all over the recently created street mural, the video shows.
Hours earlier about 3 p.m. Saturday, she and 39-year-old Edmee Chavannes were arrested for vandalizing the mural in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed.
The spokesperson did not have information about any arrests of the two Staten Island women at the site of the other mural in Harlem.
"Before anything else can matter, Jesus has to matter," a woman, who appears to be Beatty, yelled out into the streets during the livestream in Harlem.
A man can be heard on video screaming at the group, which was riding in two vehicles with buckets of paint, "What's wrong with you? You're a Black woman. You're a Black woman. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
At the end, a man explains that the paint protest is "for Jesus y'all. Get it together man. We're not even violent. Y'all see the violence. Y'all see what's going on. But we doing this for Jesus Christ, just know it. Live matter, period."
At the Fifth Avenue incident, Beatty and Chavannes, who lead a group called At The Well Ministries, were taken into custody and charged with criminal mischief and issued desk appearance tickets.
While officers tried to detain them, one cop slipped in the paint and fell, injuring his head and arm, the NYPD spokesperson said. The officer is in stable condition.
Another man, Wesley Davis, 42, of Hempstead, was also arrested for criminal mischief and slapped with a desk appearance ticket about 5:45 p.m. in front of Trump Tower. He was arrested in a separate mural vandalization incident, after the two women were detained.
It was unclear if Chavannes was also a part of the Harlem paint vandalization. The same group also appear to have driven to Brooklyn overnight as well to paint over a BLM mural in Brooklyn. They described the "drive-by painting" incidents and said they planned to continue doing them in a video on YouTube after the two livestreams, encouraging followers to vote for Trump.
The two women were detained May 30th—in the midst of massive protests against police violence—during a separate demonstration against reproductive healthcare procedures like abortions outside of a Planned Parenthood center in Manhattan.
Beatty claimed their arrest at the time was "biased against Christians, against pro-life abolitionists," though the NYPD had been violently arresting various protesters that weekend as well.
Tagged
manhattan
black lives matter
harlem
blm
mural
vandalism
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 13, 2026
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Arts & Entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .