Elvis Presley’s Graceland Vandalized With Graffiti For ‘Black Lives Matter’

The New York Post shared more about the vandalism: 

Graceland is all shook up.

Elvis Presley’s estate was vandalized with “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund the Police” graffiti overnight into Tuesday.

The protest slogans were found spray-painted in black and orange on the stone wall surrounding the King’s mansion, a signature Memphis landmark and major tourist draw, local newspaper The Commercial Appeal reported.

“Abolish ICE” and “F–k Trump” were also among the spray-painted phrases.

The graffiti covered up many of the hundreds of tributes to the music icon handwritten by fans on the wall over the years.

By mid-morning Tuesday, workers with power-wash equipment were removing the slogans, according to the Appeal.

A Graceland spokesman declined to comment on the vandalism.

Billboard described the tags that were used and more about the BLM's involvement:

The tags along Elvis Presley Boulevard also featured references to Breonna Taylor and the phrases “No Justice, No Peace,” “Defund MPD” and “F–k Trump,” with similar messages scrawled across the Depression-era Levitt Shell in nearby Overton Park where Presley performed his first paid concert in July 1954, according to the Daily Memphian. The spray-painted words covered over the many thousands of handwritten tributes on the wall that have been left by Elvis fans since the museum opened to the public in 1982.

The paper reported that officials at Levitt Shell have filed a police report, noting that because of the pandemic, the venue run by a nonprofit organization has been shuttered and is looking at a $700,000 shortfall this year. Among the messages reportedly painted on the Levitt Shell were: “BLM,” “Defund MPD,” “End Homelessness,” “Give Our City Back,” ” Eat the Rich” and obscene references to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and President Donald Trump.

Tennessee Rep. London Lamar tweeted a theory about the source of the graffiti, suggesting that it was not done by Black Lives Matter activists, but by others looking to discredit the movement. “I bet my money that those tagging property in Memphis with BLM and Defund Police are individuals trying to make this movement look bad!” she tweeted. “Don’t believe that it’s the movement! It’s not! WE ALL KNOW WHO’S OUT TO MAKE US LOOK BAD!”

WMC5 shared some reactions from Elvis's fans and family: 

“We were just driving by this morning and we looked over,” said Alice Self, Elvis fan. “We just couldn’t believe it. We were just stunned by it.”

Bill Stanley, Elvis’ stepbrother, says he’s appalled that someone would deface Elvis’ home.

“This is totally uncalled for,” said Stanley. “One of the saddest days of my life. I mean, besides the day that Elvis passed away, this right here is right up next to it.”

State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, offered a different take on the graffiti, posting on Facebook: “What’s the real issue here? Every visitor that has come to Graceland has written on that wall and there were no complaints. So, really, it’s WHAT was written, not the fact that it was written.”