Police have made an arrest of a man in connection with a vandalism incident involving the Black Wall Street Gallery in Soho.
Cops said that on Monday, William Roberson, 51, of W. 144th St., was arrested in Upper Manhattan and charged with criminal mischief.
According to police, on Mon., May 31, just after 5 a.m., a man smeared white paint on the lower part of a front window of the Black Wall Street Gallery, at 26 Mercer St., in order to obscure or deface the venue’s name.
The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force was investigating the incident.
However, according to news reports, it turns out that Roberson was motivated by jealousy not hate.
The New York Post reported: “William Roberson, who is African American, told cops he believed his wife was cheating on him with the gallery’s owner, Ricco Wright, sources said.
“Wright adamantly denied Roberson’s accusation in an interview with The Post on Monday.
“’It had nothing to do with his wife at all,’ Wright said. ‘I do believe that that young man is dealing with some mental issues.'”
Roberson reportedly used to display art and clothing in the gallery.
When Roberson smeared the gallery’s window with white paint on May 31 the venue was showing an exhibit on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
The gallery was hit at least three times by vandals and has since relocated to Hudson St. in Tribeca.
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