Police have arrested and charged a man accused of spray painting anti-Trump vandalism at a Philadelphia grocery store while a city attorney recorded him.
Evan Brown, 33, of Brooklyn, New York, was arrested Sunday and charged with criminal mischief and other related offenses.
Police say Brown and assistant city solicitor Duncan Lloyd, 32, were caught on surveillance video approaching the Fresh Market grocery store on 8200 Germantown Avenue back on November 25 at 12:10 a.m. Authorities said the footage captured Lloyd, holding a glass of wine, filming or taking photos as Brown spray painted the words 'F*** Trump' on the wall of the store. Both men then fled the area on foot, police said.
Officials say the vandalism caused thousands of dollars in damage.
While Brown was arrested, Lloyd is not facing any charges and will keep his job. First Deputy City Solicitor Craig Straw told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Saturday that prosecutors had informed his office that police didn't submit a warrant requesting charges against Lloyd. He said Lloyd, who has been on a two-week leave without pay, will complete 40 hours of community service.
City inspector general Amy Kurland said the "punitive measures of unpaid leave and community service'' were appropriate.
Joe DeFelice, the chairman of the Philadelphia Republican Party, said that Lloyd should be fired for his actions.
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“For somebody with extensive legal training to feel entitled to vandalize a newly opened super-market strikes us at the Philadelphia Republican Party as an astonishing feat of idiocy," DeFelice wrote. "Did the extra glass of Shiraz give him some sort of delusional confidence that there are no cameras on Germantown Ave? The taxpayers should be entrusting exactly none of our faith into this man. He should be fired from our city’s law department immediately.”
