Lightning Strike Reduces Toledo's George Floyd Mural to Scorched Rubble

Brittany M. Hughes | July 14, 2021
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A mural of George Floyd painted on a wall in Toledo, Ohio was struck by lightning Tuesday before it collapsed, authorities say.

Witnesses reportedly told the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department that they saw a lightning strike hit the area at around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, just before the brick facing of the wall came down. Local station WTVG was able to confirm via doppler that a lightning strike had, in fact, been recorded in the area around that time.
 


The wall, part of a building that used to house a local bar, had been painted as a memorial to Floyd in July of 2020, two months after Floyd’s death.

The City of Toledo has already said they’ll work with the artist to reconstruct the mural, or to move it to a different area. The building owner is now working to tear down the rest of the existing memorial, as most of it is now laying in a pile of scorched rubble on the ground. 

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