The mayor of Washington has renamed an area close to the White House in Black Lives Matter.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed an area near the White House on Friday that has become the epicenter of anti-racism protests over the past week “Black Lives Matter Plaza” – unveiling a giant mural.
But in doing so, the African-American mayor piqued the anger of the very movement she supported, as well as of President Donald Trump.
The protests focus on the May 25 death in Minneapolis of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, while in police custody. A white officer knelt on the neck until he lost consciousness.
This officer and three others are now in detention and facing charges – second degree murder for the kneeling officer, and complicity in the crime for his colleagues.
Just north of the White House, the words BLACK LIVES MATTER were painted in huge yellow letters along the street leading to the presidential mansion, with the DC flag symbol.
The section of 16th Street across from the White House is now officially “Black Lives Matter Plaza”. pic.twitter.com/bbJgAYE35b
– Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) June 5, 2020
“The stretch of 16th Street in front of the White House is now officially” Black Lives Matter Plaza, “” Bowser tweeted.
A city employee put up a new street sign with the name on it.
“Determination to make America the land it should be,” she said on Twitter.
The corner of 16th and H is important – in a controversial incident on Monday, peaceful protesters gathered there were dispersed with tear gas.
Shortly after, Trump walked from the White House to a nearby church for a photo op, during which he held the Bible in his hand.
“There was a dispute this week over the street it is about. Mayor Bowser made it clear that it was DC street and honor the protesters,” who protested Monday, tweeted her chief of staff John Falcicchio.
Rose Jaffe, one of the artists in the collective who painted the BLACK LIVES MATTER panel, told AFP that it was “to recover the streets of DC”.
But she added that Bowser “has to do more than just a photo shoot – she has to go on when it is taken away” on issues such as police accountability.
Stars like LeBron James praised his decision on Twitter, but the local chapter of the Black Lives Movement backed down, calling the mural “a performative distraction from real policy change.”
“It is to appease the white liberals while ignoring our demands,” he said on Twitter, saying that Bowser had “always been on the wrong side” of the movement.
“We are well equipped”
The US government has deployed a large contingent of federal officers and National Guard soldiers from other states – many of whom wore neither suits nor identification badges – to manage the protests in Washington.
Bowser had called local guards, but the Justice Department decided to take partial control of the peacekeeping operations, with guard troops coming from as far away as Utah.
In a letter to Trump dated Thursday and tweeted early Friday, Bowser called for the removal of “all extraordinary federal law enforcement and the military presence.”
She said their deployment “inflamed protesters and reinforced the grievances of those who, on the whole, peacefully protested for change and for reform of the racist and broken systems that kill black Americans.”
“These unidentified additional units operate outside of established chains of command,” she added.
“We are well equipped to handle major First Amendment events and activities,” including the right to assemble, said Bowser.
Trump reiterated Friday that authorities must “dominate the streets” and has not apologized for the deployment of the forces.
And on Twitter, he went wild against Bowser, calling her “incompetent” and claiming that the National Guard had saved her from “great embarrassment”.
Utah Senator Mike Lee accused Bowser of evicting Utah National Guard members from area hotels.
She replied, “Residents of DC cannot pay their hotel bills. The military can settle this with the hotel today, and we are ready to help.”
