Mayor of Washington DC Muriel Bowser says people around the country want their voices “heard” and “there are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen and to have their humanity recognized.”
Bowser comments came Friday in explaining to reporters why city workers and volunteers painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House.
“We know what’s going… on in our country. There’s a lot of anger, there’s a lot of distrust of police in the government. There are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen and to have their humanity recognized. And we had the opportunity to send that message loud and clear on a very important street in our city.”
“That message is to the American people that black lives matter, black humanity matters,” said Bowser.
“And we as a city raise that up as part of our values as a city.”
The street-painting project follows Bower’s verbal clashes with the Trump administration over the response to protests of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Bowser has complained about the heavy-handed federal response and called for the removal of out-of-state National Guard troops.
She says their differences highlight the need for D.C. to be a state and have more control over its internal affairs.
While not addressing the painted mural, President Trump continued his attacks on Bowser in tweets Friday.
“The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., MayorBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for ‘handouts,’ is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment over the last number of nights,” he tweeted. “If she doesn’t treat these men and women well, then we’ll bring in a different group of men and women!”
The mayor fired back “that we all have to just refocus on on what’s in front of us.”
“Our nation is hurting. It’s in need of healing and leadership at all levels, all the way from the top to mayors like me and to all of us to focus on how we bring people together.”
The city’s police chief Peter Newsham also talked about the continued protests and they “anticipate numbers that are larger than any of the numbers that we’ve seen to this point,” on Saturday.
“The critical thing for us and ensuring that the city is safe when we have large gatherings outside of the public health issues is to ensure that we don’t have people who are going to be inclined to be involved in bad behavior. So that’s more of our focus than the actual numbers.”
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