The United Teachers of Dade headquarters located at 5553 NW 36th Street in Miami Springs was recently vandalized. Specifically, the illegal Wynwood style mural was vandalized with what appeared to be paint thrown at the wall. You could clearly see a darkish black looking splatter of paint across a portion of the mural including some of the windows.
There was also red paint splatter that was thrown over the portion of the mural showing books labeled Justice, Free Assembly, Unions, Equality. It is a criminal offense to deface and vandalize private property.
It’s no secret that the UTD had violated Miami Springs laws by placing a wall to wall, Wynwood style mural on the side of their building. As we reported on August 27th, the Mural had gone up earlier this year without permission from the City. In fact, the UTD’s Facebook Page was updated to reflect the mural on March 19, 2021. (See screenshot below.). However, the UTD didn’t bother to get permission from the City of Miami Springs until May, 2021 when they finally applied for a permit. We know the City of Miami Springs rejected the permit application.
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
The UTD is in a civil violation of Miami Springs laws. However, vandalizing a building is a criminal offense. Those who committed this crime may be held criminally liable for vandalizing the UTD building. As the old saying goes, “Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right.”
We are not a city of outlaws. We have rules and laws that must be followed. Those who vandalized the UTD will hopefully be caught and receive the appropriate punishment.
VANDALS WILL BE PROSECUTED
There is no place for vandalism in our community. If you have any information about this criminal vandalism, you are urged to contact the Miami Springs Police Department at 305.888.9711.
BEAUTIFUL, BUT ILLEGAL
If you’re wondering what this is all about, we reported (in the story linked below) how the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) had a beautiful mural installation on the side of their building. But according to the City of Miami Springs, the mural violates the City’s rules on signage and business color palettes. It also raised concerns over the equal application of the law. A few years back a small business had to remove their much smaller mural for violating the City’s sign laws. But the much more powerful and politically connected UTD was still displaying their wall to wall Wynwood style mural 6 months after it first went up. If allowed to stay, it would set a precedent allowing any business to create a Wynwood style mural…And there’s no guarantee that the next mural would be as tasteful as the one vandalized at the UTD headquarters. Read the full story at the link below.
