The iconic statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Columbus, OH was defaced during a Black Lives Matter protest, according to a Reddit post.
The photo, uploaded to the Reddit thread r/bodybuilding, shows Arnold’s hands painted red with “BLM” (Black Lives Matter) and “Blood Is On Your Hands” written below the figure, which stands outside the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the location of the annual Arnold Sports Festival.
Reddit Photo
It’s unclear if the vandalism was directed at Schwarzenegger, seven-time Mr. Olympia and former Republican governor of California, or the government in general. As of this writing, no Ohio news outlets had reported on the vandalism and Arnold himself has not said anything.
Nick’s Strength & Power, the popular YouTuber and bodybuilding commentator, uploaded a photo of the defaced statue, which was met with disgust by bodybuilding enthusiasts.
“Yes he’s a racist Arnold. Fucking idiots,” Lee Priest commented.
Other statues and monuments across Ohio were defaced in similar fashion, but in those cases the figures were of people with notable racist tendencies. For example, a statue of William Oxley Thompson, the fifth president of Ohio State University, had its hands painted red — Thompson implemented policies that had Black and White students educated in separate schools on OSU’s campus.
But Arnold has no such racist past, and he’s been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests following the death of George Floyd. He’s also been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump.
And news reports claimed Schwarzenegger was very popular among California’s Black population — which typically sided with Democrats—during his time as governor.
The 8-foot statue was originally erected in 2012 and moved to the Greater Columbus Convention Center in 2014.
