Vandals defaced a statue of Arthur Ashe Wednesday with “White Lives Matter” and “WLM” graffiti in Richmond, Virginia, where the Black tennis icon, humanitarian and civil rights activist grew up.
A white man was spotted spray-painting the base with “White Lives Matter,” a racist counter-slogan to the Black Lives Matter movement that has gained momentum since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Volunteers clean off spray-painted graffiti on the Arthur Ashe memorial in Richmond, Virginia.
Ashe, who died in 1993, was the first Black man to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.
Police are investigating leads in the Ashe statue vandalism, CBS in Richmond reported in the segment above.
