Some Republican lawmakers are calling on Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to rename the two-block area in front of the White House that was dubbed “Black Lives Matter Plaza” three years ago amid a wave of racial justice protests.
via: BET
Fallout continues over controversial comments from independent Black Lives Matter chapters that were accused of supporting Hamas’ vicious Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that killed at least 1,400 civilians.
A group of GOP House and Senate members pressed Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to rename “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” a stretch of blocks near the White House that commemorates the racial justice uprising in 2020 after the police murder of George Floyd.
“We write to urge you to immediately rename ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza’ and remove the street painting that reads ‘Black Lives Matter’ due to that movement’s celebration of violent antisemitic terrorism,” the letter to Bowser, dated Oct. 23, reads.
Black Lives Matter chapters are run independently from the national Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, with many completely unaffiliated.
The letter pointed to statements from BLM chapters in D.C., Chicago and BLM Grassroots. It also associates BLM in general with antisemitic statements and does not differentiate between the Movement for Black Lives, Black Lives Matter Global Foundation or the independent chapters.
BLM Chicago has removed a social media post that included an image of a person paragliding with a Palestinian flag attached to its parachute, captioned “I stand with Palestine.”
Following sharp criticism, BLM Chicago stated, “Yesterday we sent out msgs that we aren’t proud of. We stand with Palestine & the people who will do what they must to live free. Our hearts are with, the grieving mothers, those rescuing babies from rubble, who are in danger of being wiped out completely.”
The Republican lawmakers insisted those remarks praised antisemitic Hamas terrorist attacks.
“These posts are meant to delegitimize Israel and rationalize brutal attacks on the Jewish people. It is hard to escape the conclusion that these statements are motivated by an ugly animus against the Jewish people,” the lawmakers wrote.
Conservative groups, particularly the Republican Party, have largely opposed the Black Lives Matter movement, voicing open derision against them during protests against police violence against Black people in recent years.
In a Pew Research survey, 82 percent of Republicans and those who lean GOP oppose the BLM movement.
A BLM national organization spokesperson told Newsweek that it is unaffiliated with BLM Grassroots or BLM Chicago. Still, some social media users who said they were BLM supporters disapproved of the controversial comments, some of them saying they would no longer back the movement.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, BLM chapters in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Detroit also expressed support for Hamas. The ADL noted that other “fringe-left groups are aligning with anti-Zionist organizations,” including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the World Workers Party and chapters of the Democratic Socialists for America.
Bowser had the BLM slogan painted in bright yellow letters to send a message to then-President Donald Trump, who vigorously opposed racial justice demonstrations in response to the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other Black people who lost their lives to police brutality and white supremacy.
The mural covers the iconic roadway on 16th Street NW, between K and H streets, directly north of the White House.
