‘Black Lives Matter’ painted near White House as DC mayor calls for military to leave
As nationwide protests continue for over a week following the death of George Floyd, Washington, D.C.’s mayor has called for President Trump to remove military forces from the city.
Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday that she requests “federal law enforcement and military presence” be withdrawn.
“I write to inform you that with last night’s curfew ending at 6:00 a.m. today, I have ended the state of emergency in the District of Columbia related to demonstrations,” Bowser said in the letter. “The protesters have been peaceful and last night, the Metropolitan Police Department did not make a single arrest. Therefore, I am requesting that you withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence from Washington, D.C.”
Bowser tweeted on Friday that a section of 16th Street near the White House is now called “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
Bowser’s request for the military to withdraw comes after Washington, D.C. painted “Black Lives Matter” on a street that leads to the White House on Friday morning.
The D.C. Department of Public Works closed the street and the letters were painted from 16th street NW between H and K streets, according to NBC Washington.
Black Lives Matter DC called the action “performative.”
“This is a performative distraction from real policy changes,” the group wrote on Twitter. “Bowser has consistently been on the wrong side of BLMDC history. This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands. Black Lives Matter means defund the police.”
Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah slammed reports that Bowser is planning to evict at least 1,200 National Guard members from city hotels.
“I find this very strange,” Lee told Fox News. “[The soldiers] came here at the request of their country and now, in the middle of it, in the middle of a deployment, in the middle of their fourth consecutive all-nighter, they’re being told they’re not welcome there. That is unpatriotic; that is unacceptable.”
Bowser told MSNBC that the federal government can “encroach on our city streets in the name of protecting federal assets” because “we are not a state.”
Washington, D.C., became the first majority black city in 1957 in the country and was nicknamed “Chocolate City,” according to The Washingtonian. In 2011, the district’s black population dipped below 50% for the first time, the outlet reported.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington D.C. is around 46% black as of July 2019.
National protests over Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, entered their 11th day on Friday.
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was shown on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes, including nearly 3 minutes after he became unresponsive. Chauvin was arrested Friday, according to the Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner.
Chauvin’s charges were heightened to second-degree murder on Wednesday, McClatchy News reported. Chauvin was previously charged with third-degree murder. The other three Minneapolis officers on the scene of Floyd’s death have also been charged, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 9:15 AM with the headline "‘Black Lives Matter’ painted near White House as DC mayor calls for military to leave."