It’s time for Washington to remove the Black Lives Matter mural

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It was meant to rile up people and advance a false political narrative. But after numerous studies debunking the claim about police shootings and multiple revelations of the fraudulent way BLM spent its donations, it is time to remove the Black Lives Matter mural on 16th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C.

BLM was initially formed in 2013 in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator. They claimed Martin was unjustly killed due to racism, but multiple investigations, including by then-President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, found that not to be true. Zimmerman was exonerated in court.

Next, the group’s prominence further grew in 2014 during the aftermath of the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. BLM, along with Democrats and their accomplices in the legacy media, once again claimed a black teenager was killed because of racism. The social media hashtag “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” became a national phenomenon as BLM advanced the lie that police officer Darren Wilson executed Brown as he was surrendering with his hands in the air. After multiple investigations (including, once again, by Obama’s Department of Justice), this was also found to be not true.

In 2020, after George Floyd died in police custody, BLM became synonymous with resisting alleged systemic racism in the criminal justice system. When people weren’t rioting or looting, killing black people, and destroying black-owned businesses or neighborhoods, they were protesting for change. Millions flowed in donations to the group. Rampant virtue-signaling by corporations, politicians, celebrities, and sports leagues became an integral part of BLM and, in turn, our country’s culture.

But rather than be agents of change, BLM became agents of luxury. They made multiple lavish real estate purchases and gave lucrative contracts to the co-founder’s family and friends. The motivation to change the criminal justice system against the perceived biases against black people became a secondary priority behind increasing their bank accounts and opulent lifestyles. Both the group’s grievances and fundraising were a scam.

The mural was a divisive political act that was always untruthful at its core. It tried to cement the notion, pun intended, that black people are the victims of a cruel and fatal systemically racist criminal justice system in America. That narrative was as legitimate as the way BLM spent millions of dollars from the group’s donations.

Both the cause and the group are sullied by their deceit. And because of this, the mural must be erased. It is not worth honoring a movement predicated on the duplicity that BLM has exhibited. As such, the city should immediately remove the mural.