Mayor Muriel Bowser would not directly answer whether Washington, D.C., plans to remove a street painting near the White House that says, “Defund the police.”
Protesters placed the addition next to a massive painting commissioned last week by Bowser on 16th Street Northwest, which read, “Black Lives Matter,” in large yellow letters.
“It’s not a part of the mural. And we certainly encourage expression, but we are using the city streets for city art,” she told ABC News This Week on Sunday when asked whether the call to defund the police would be removed.
Pressed for clarification about whether it would be painted over, Bowser said she hadn’t had “an opportunity to review it.”
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted onto 16th St. just down from the White House. Last night protesters added “Defund The Police” pic.twitter.com/1GElXtYiSD
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) June 7, 2020
On Friday, Bowser was criticized by the local Black Lives Matter chapter, which called the mural a “performative distraction from real policy changes.”
“This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands. Black Lives Matter means defund the police,” the group tweeted.
Bowser also renamed an intersection in front of the White House, “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
The area surrounding the White House has been the site of protests in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
