Maria Lisante, the owner of La Bella Pizza Bistro in New Paltz, New York, told Fox News’ the Ingraham Angle Friday that protesters defaced the American flag mural because “they were opposed” to what they thought was a “political position.”
“They didn’t want a flag. They thought that it meant a political position and they were opposed,” Lisante said.
The initial proposal for the American flag mural came under some fire late last month, but protesters gathered at an “appreciation walk” for the painting.
Joey Garcia, a New York state corrections officer and Army National Guard veteran organized the appreciation walk and said on Friday that the event was peaceful.
Garcia said he was labeled by some of the protesters and called names for organizing the walk.
“I tried to explain, ‘Hey, you guys have the right to be out here, so do we. Let’s keep it peaceful.’ They really didn’t want to hear any of that,” Garcia said.
A GoFundMe donation page
Maria Lisante says that the growing donations will “help fund paint, materials, future maintenance, and display lighting to increase visibility” for the mural.
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