Couple charged with hate-crime over BLM mural in Martinez now facing burglary, drug charges
David Nelson and Nicole Anderson now charged with burglarizing a dead man’s home near Walnut Creek. Nelson is also charged with having meth for sale.
MARTINEZ, Calif. - The couple who was charged by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office in 2020 for the hate-crime of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter mural when they painted over it in Martinez, is facing new charges, the D.A.'s office confirms.
On Wednesday, the D.A. Diana Becton's office said David Nelson and Nicole Anderson are charged with burglarizing a dead man's home near Walnut Creek. Nelson is also charged with having methamphetamine for sale.
The couple notoriously got a rise from the public at the height of the George Floyd protest movement by taking black paint and using paint rollers to cover a BLM mural on a downtown street just hours after activists had completed it.
The Mercury News reports the couple's trial stemming from the hate-crime charges was set to begin in 2022. It is not clear how these new charges will impact that timeline.
The couple had described the hate-crime charges against them as "highly politicized."
Their arraignment on felony burglary charges is set for next week.