Artist MTO tells his side of 'Fast Life' mural controversy

Graffiti artist MTO explains how he unwittingly set off a debate with a mural he painted here, in a three-page news release issued on Thursday.

It has been five months since the artist's "Fast Life" mural was painted over at a business on 10th Street. Some had complained that it glorified gang culture and that it was purposely placed at the gateway to the city's predominately black Newtown neighborhood.

According to the news release, none of that was true.

"The debate wasn't mine at all," the artist writes. "The piece was born from an unpremeditated collaboration between the city of Sarasota and me."

Read graffiti artist MTO's news release on the 'Fast Life' mural. Note: Release contains a profanity