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2 men arrested attempting to stop the removal of BLM street mural in St. Pete: Police

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) said two men were arrested for attempting to block FDOT crews who arrived to paint over the street mural on 9th Avenue South, west of 22nd Street South.

The mural was a Black Lives Matter mural, which was installed in June 2020.

Around 8 p.m. Friday, Andrew Oliver, 49, and Benedict Atherton-Zeman, 59, walked by police officers and sat down on the road attempting to block FDOT machinery, SPPD said.

Police arrested both men after they refused to move.

They were charged with Pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic and obstruction, officials said.

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