A Black Lives Matter banner marking the Washington D.C. intersection dubbed in 2020 as Black Live Matter Plaza is being removed.
Workers began disassembling the street where the yellow letters were painted a block from the White House after the killing of a Black man by Minnesota police sparked nationwide protests nearly five years ago.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last week the mural would be deconstructed.
“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” she posted on social media.
Bowser said Trump administration job cuts in the nation’s capital is now her primary concern. Republican lawmakers have also moved to abolish the 1973 Home Rule Act giving Washington D.C. limited autonomy.
Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk celebrated the destruction of two-block long mural on social media, posting video of workers jackhammering concrete and declaring “the domestic color revolution has failed.”
Equus Striping CEO Megan Bailiff, whose company created the mural, was also on hand to watch it being taken apart Monday. She called its deconstruction “historically obscene” and said a strong civil rights statement has more meaning now than ever before.
Maryland resident Starlette Thomas who attended 2020 Floyd protests took a piece of the plaza home on Monday.
“I needed to be here today,” she told the Associated Press. “I can’t just let this go away.”
Bowser plans to replace the Black Live Matter Plaza with new murals crafted by students and artists in the Washington D.C. area. Removing it is expected to cost more than $600,000 and take up to eight weeks, according to NBC News.
