Florida UMC Pastor Arrested for Defending Black History Mural

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Advocating Justice

A United Methodist Insight Special | Sept. 4, 2025

A United Methodist pastor has been arrested for resisting government efforts to erase Black history from the United States.

The Rev. Andy Oliver, pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., was arrested Aug. 29 for kneeling in prayer on a “Black History Matters” street mural as the Florida Department of Transportation arrived to paint over it. The mural was created by a cadre of artists in 2023 in front of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Africa American Museum.

Rev. Oliver was arrested along with a clergy colleague, the Rev. Ben Atherton-Zeman of the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg. The two were charged with pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic and obstruction according to St. Petersburg police.

The League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg posted a video on its Facebook page “mourning” the loss of the mural. Less than a week after the original mural was blacked out, Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Woodson Museum, posted a photo of a new mural painted in white on the same spot.

In an interview with community radio station WMNF, Rev. Oliver explained his motivation for attempting to thwart FDOT from carrying out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' directive to paint over all street art that depicts messages contrary to the Trump administration's anti-inclusion policies. A transcript from the station’s website reads in part:

WMNF’s Chris Young spoke to Reverend Andy Oliver, pastor at Allendale United Methodist Church, who says he chose to protest because that’s where his faith required him to be.

Young: Kneeling on the mural and praying. That’s a very impactful way to do it. So can you tell me a little bit about what brought you to that mode of protesting?

Oliver: You know, any time we pray, it’s a protest, right? Whether it’s a prayer of lament or we are asking for something to change or we are calling for justice- Prayer is always a protest. And so, you know, as I was kneeling and praying, I, I thought of, the people who have come before me who have assumed that same position or have marched and prayed or, in some way put their body, in the way of something harmful happening. And I also thought about the unknown murals that are around St. Pete, the blood that has been spilled, specifically by black people, people like John Evans, who was lynched here in St. Pete. Those were the people and the thoughts that I had in my mind as I was kneeling, the Florida DOT truck was backing up toward us, and I knew it was going to be a matter of time before we would be asked to move. And I had no desire to move from that place because that’s where my faith required me to be.

Oliver: We have a governor who was set on the erasure of this mural, while he’s also set on the erasure of the teaching of black history. and it’s also bigger than murals, right? We have a governor who’s doing a lot of harm. And I think, you know, the words of Doctor Carter G. Woodson rang true today. They call to us today where he called for courageous, brave people, to put themselves in the way of harm. And that’s how, that’s how we create change. That’s how we say no to fascism. That’s how justice happens. It’s when injustice is interrupted. Even if it was just for a moment, I needed to interrupt injustice from happening.

According to Tampa Bay Area news outlet Creative Loafing, the “Black History Matters” mural was the third of five city murals FDOT removed Aug. 29 after issuing a statewide mandate last month banning pavement art. In addition to the Black History banner, FDOT painted over University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s USF-themed mural and a geometric intersection in the Childs Park neighborhood. According to USF St. Pete’s student newspaper the Crow’s Nest, the state arrived to remove the “Fluid Structures” mural at about 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.

The state’s action apparently responded to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who said that roads paid for with federal money shouldn’t be canvases for “political” art.

“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” Secretary Duffy wrote on X in a threat to withdraw funding from municipalities that keep “political” banners in place.

The “Black History Matters” street mural was important to supporters of the adjacent Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum in St. Petersburg. Woodson was an American historian, author, journalist, and has been called the "father of black history." The museum is in a historically Black neighborhood of the city.

Rev. Oliver and Allendale UMC have a history of social activism. In addition to the church’s longtime advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the United Methodist Church, in mid-August, Oliver and Allendale members joined two other Tampa Bay Area United Methodist churches to travel across Florida to protest at the now-notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detection camp in the Florida Everglades.

Cynthia B. Astle is Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 to amplify news and views for, by and about marginalized and under-served United Methodists. Information from the Facebook posts of the Rev. Andy Oliver and of Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Carter Woodson Museum, was used in this report.