A George Floyd mural collapsed in Ohio, temporarily leading some to suspect deliberate action was taken to destroy it. The mural was painted on the side of a building in Toledo at the corner of Summit and Lagrange.

(related George Floyd Square Is a Crime-Ridden Disaster, Black Business Owners Speak Out)

Here was the original report.

The George Floyd mural on the side of this building at Summit and Lagrange has collapsed. No word yet on what may have caused the collapse. pic.twitter.com/2WxOSpwicc

— WTVG 13abc (@13abc) July 13, 2021

But once witness reports started to come in, it became clear something else had happened. Apparently, lightning struck the massive painting of George Floyd’s head, complete with a crown on top. That was enough to send the wall of the already unstable building crashing down.

NEW – George Floyd mural at Summit and Lagrange destroyed by a lightning strike. Doppler Radar did show a lightning strike in that block at about 4:30 PM. pic.twitter.com/myj7l541Lz

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) July 14, 2021

You can imagine the comments, with many suggesting, mostly tongue-in-cheek, that God had something to do with it. Meanwhile, local activists are already planning to paint a new mural somewhere else so Floyd’s face will likely reappear in the near future in the city.

While I doubt this was a case of divine intervention, and because this piece needs to be more than 150 words long, I will note something that’s been batting around in my head for a while in regards to how people are honored in our current cultural moment and how stupidly inconsistent the standards are.

Consider the removal of the Lewis and Clark statue in Charlottesville, VA earlier in the week, or note the desecration of statues of figures like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington we’ve seen over the last year. We’ve been told over and over by the social justice movement that historical figures should not be honored if they had complicated lives that go beyond just the good acts we honor them for.

At the exact same time, we are told that George Floyd murals and statues are fine because his violent past is irrelevant to the event that makes his name relevant to the masses. Let’s say that’s true for the sake of argument. Why does that standard not apply to an entire range of statues of people who were relevant because of something they did, yet still had complicated lives, especially within the context of their time?

In short, the social justice movement is incoherent. They want to paint George Floyd’s face on the side of a building but also want to tear down statues of Jefferson, and yes, that’s a position that’s gained traction on the far-left. Wouldn’t one, consistent standard make all this so much easier? But that wouldn’t be politically expedient.