(Photo by Danny Garcia)
ORLANDO | The Orlando Police Department have arrested a suspect in the August vandalization of several LGBTQ+ murals on the exterior walls of the LGBT+ Center Orlando and Zebra Youth Drop-in Center.
Matthew Michael Robinson, 34, was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal mischief Sept. 13, according to a posting on OPD’s Facebook page.
“We will be seeking enhancements for evidence of prejudice during the commission of these crimes,” the post states.
Members of The Center Orlando discovered messages of hate spraypainted across LGBTQ+ murals Aug. 26. The messages were painted on the outside walls of The Center Orlando and Zebra Youth’s Drop-in Center across the street.
Along with messages of hate, the vandals painted white nationalist symbols including swastikas and crosses. A sign was hung on one of the walls with “Knights of the Black Sun,” a known white nationalist group, written on it.
Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani shared the information on her social media, adding that “more arrests are forthcoming.”
“Thank you again to our incredible community for sharing information and working together to keep one another safe,” Eskamani wrote.
OPD stated in its post that the investigation is ongoing and is still encouraging anyone with information related to the incident to reach out to the Orlando Police Criminal Investigations Division or contact anonymously the Central Florida Crimeline.
