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.

Saudi flight from Tampa, secret FBI probe reveal possible Saudi support network for 9/11 hijackers
Twenty years after the Sept. 11 attacks, more than 80,000 records compiled by the Tampa FBI Field Office remain classified. Newly declassified documents are pointing to a possible secret Saudi support network for the hijackers. Soon after the attacks, the FBI uncovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.