Instagram Artist Arrested for Unauthorized Bronx Mural Honoring Slain Teen Javits Frimpong
California-based artist David Miklatski was arrested mid-paint while creating an unsanctioned mural for a 15-year-old fatally shot in the Bronx. The provocative imagery sparked community backlash.
Instagram Artist Arrested Over Unsanctioned Bronx Mural for Murdered 15-Year-Old
A California-based artist with more than 460,000 Instagram followers was arrested Wednesday while painting an unauthorized mural on the side of a Bronx church, NY Post Metro reports. The unfinished work was intended to honor Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old Ghanaian immigrant fatally shot in the stomach on October 29 while walking to school near the site.
David Miklatski, 37 — who works under the name David Sabastian — was painting on the exterior wall of Mision de Dios church on Third Avenue near East 171st Street when officers arrived around 10:30 a.m. He was charged with making graffiti and possession of a graffiti instrument.
The mural's imagery proved immediately divisive. The black-and-white composition featured Black men with chains and padlocks around their heads, a chessboard with pawns, a washing machine containing brains, and a portrait of Frimpong above a birthday cake with bullets in place of candles. Miklatski said the symbols represented brainwashing, manipulation, and mental enslavement — and that the work was not intended as a political statement.
"What I wanted to do with this mural was really speak to the mentality of the people who are committing these atrocious crimes, speak to the 'hood directly," Miklatski said.
"This is more of a humanity thing," he added. "More of a spiritual thing."
Some community members rejected the framing. Benjamin Richardson, 40, said the neighborhood was still grieving and that the imagery — particularly the chained heads — was inappropriate.
"We're still in the mourning, and someone's stupidly come here and put this thing up. This is ridiculous," Richardson said. He said the chains evoked slavery and that a straightforward portrait of Frimpong would have been more fitting. "It should be a picture of the boy," he said.
Miklatski said he had first learned of Frimpong's killing while in New York City for a separate stunt — posting his own artwork on the walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He said he then contacted the teen's family, who expressed support for a mural near the scene of the shooting. Frimpong's uncle, Mohamed Doumouaian, confirmed to The Post that the family approved of the mural, including its controversial imagery.
The church itself, however, had not given its consent. An unnamed maintenance worker told The Post he was the one who called police after notifying the pastor, who said the building was private property. Officers arrived within minutes of the call.
"I just think it's crazy that they showed up in 5 minutes as I'm just drawing on a wall and trying to memorialize this whole thing," Miklatski said.
The unfinished mural remained visible on the church wall as of Friday. A passerby who stopped to look said he appreciated it.
"Permission or no permission, it's just sad that a little kid died and all this is happening," the man said.
Frimpong's shooter or shooters remain at large. No suspects have been publicly identified in connection with his killing.
Source: NY Post Metro