Two arrested for attempting to block FDOT from removing murals in St. Petersburg

On Friday, August 29, 2025, at 8 p.m., FDOT crews arrived to paint over the street mural on 9th Avenue South, west of 22nd Street South.

At 8:15 p.m., 45-year-old Andrew Oliver and 59-year-old Benedict Atherton-Zeman walked by police officers and sat down in the road on the mural in an attempt to block the FDOT machinery.

Officers warned them repeatedly to move, but they refused and were subsequently arrested. They were both charged with:

Pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic Obstruction