On Thursday morning, New York City employees have began painting a Black Lives Matter mural in big yellow letters in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio even helped paint after authorizing the mural earlier this month. He tweeted a photo of the painters and wrote, “Our city isn’t just painting the words on Fifth Avenue. We’re committed to the meaning of the message. #BlackLivesMatter.”
When de Blasio had originally approved the mural, President Donald Trump openly spoke against it. On July 1 tweeted, “NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue.”
He went on to say, “Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!”
The words “Black Lives Matter” had previously been painted in font of the White House and was issued by Washington’s Mayor Muriel Bowser. However, a local chapter of the Black Lives Matter Global Network responded by saying the mural is a, “performative distraction from real policy changes.” Activist shave been asking for police budget cuts in Washington D.C., but Bowser has been cautious in doing so.
