(MEDIAITE) On Friday, photos and video went viral of the phrase “Black Lives Matter” being painted in giant yellow letters on a street in Washington, D.C., but the art project highlighted divisions between several of the key leaders in our nation’s capital, as President Donald Trump, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and the D.C. Chapter of Black Lives Matter traded criticisms back and forth.
The painting began before dawn along 16th Street, one of the streets that leads to the White House. While the presidential residence is federal property, the streets surrounding it are city-owned, and Bowser authorized the painting of the bright yellow letters stretching the full width of the street and visible from blocks away. Because of the location and the large size of the message, many interpreted it as a rebuke of Trump.