D.C. mayor renames street in honour of protesters urging equality for black Americans
Washington: Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser last Friday renamed the section of a road leading to the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” honouring protesters demonstrating for days in the nation’s capital in pursuit for racial equality.
Workers worked overnight to paint the “Black Lives Matter” slogan in gigantic yellow letters on the surface of part of 16th Street.
The artwork takes up two blocks from K and H streets, all the way toward the Lafayette Square in front of the northern facade of the White House.
Shortly before noon, a “Black Lives Matter Plaza” sign was hung up at the corner of 16th and H streets, the very site where St. John’s Episcopal Church stands.
Ms Bowser observed the operation in person, tweeting that “the section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza’.”
President Donald Trump last Monday posed for a photo-op at the historical church, causing controversy as law enforcement reportedly used non-lethal weapons to disperse nearby protesters so as to make way for the president and his entourage.
Ms Bowser sent Mr Trump a letter, in which she urged the President to “withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence” in her city after he ordered forces to quell the protests.
In response, Mr Trump lashed out at the Democratic mayor, calling her “incompetent” on Twitter.
The president claimed that Bowser lost control of the city’s budget, and that she “is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment...”