'Black Lives Matter' Painted on Street Leading to White House

"Black Lives Matter" painted on 16th Street near the White House on June 5, 2020.Daniel Slim / AFP - Getty Images

By Rebecca Shabad and Dartunorro Clark, NBC NEWS

The bold act was intended to honor protesters who had peacefully assembled earlier this week.

WASHINGTON — District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday had "Black Lives Matter" painted on the street that leads to the White House where protesters have been demonstrating following George Floyd’s death in police custody.

"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," Bowser said at a press conference. "And it is that message, and that message is to the American people, that Black Lives Matter black humanity matters, and we as a city raise that up as part of our values as a city."

The mayor said that the people who painted it were from the D.C. Public Works Department.

"There was a dispute this week about whose street this is," John Falcicchio, chief of staff for Bowser, a Democrat, said earlier in a tweet. "Mayor Bowser wanted to make it abundantly clear that this is DC's street and to honor demonstrators who (were) peacefully protesting on Monday evening."

President Donald Trump slammed Bowser Friday afternoon, tweeting, "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. If she doesn’t treat these men and women well, then we’ll bring in a different group of men and women!"

Trump continued to attack Bowser into Friday evening, calling her "incompetent."

".@MayorBowser is grossly incompetent, and in no way qualified to be running an important city like Washington, D.C. If the great men and women of the National Guard didn’t step forward, she would have looked no better than her counterpart Mayor in Minneapolis!" he said in a tweet.

People were seen painting the words "Black Lives Matter" on Friday morning in large block letters in yellow across 16th street, which leads to Lafayette Square and the White House.

Bowser tweeted later in the morning that that particular section of 16th Street has been renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza."

Reference: NBC News