D.C. begins removing Black Lives Matter Plaza near White House
D.C. began dismantling Black Lives Matter Plaza on Monday, less than a week after Mayor Muriel Bowser announced it would be transformed.
Why it matters: The mural near the White House went up in summer 2020 to protest police brutality and as a rebuke to President Trump in his first term.
Zoom in: Crews were jackhammering the asphalt and removing traffic bollards to begin transforming the 16th Street space. The work is expected to last six to eight weeks.
The yellow mural spanned two blocks leading to the White House.
D.C. spent about $5 million in 2021 making the plaza " permanent" and pedestrian-friendly.
Bowser said last Tuesday it would be transformed into an art-driven celebration of America's 250th birthday next year — part of D.C.'s America 250 mural project.
Members of Black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi — one of the oldest Black fraternities in the country — honored the plaza Sunday before its removal, per NBC4.
"You can erase this," member Richard Mattox said, "but you cannot erase our history."
Friction point: Bowser's decision came after U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican from Georgia, introduced a bill last Monday that would withhold highway funds from the District if BLM Plaza remains. The bill would rename it Liberty Plaza.
Bowser's office did not respond to Axios' questions about renaming the area.
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