City crews have begun painting over the ‘Black Lives Matter’ street mural in D.C.

Crews in Washington, D.C. have begun painting over the city’s “Black Lives Matter” street mural, a notable symbol of the 2020 protests against the killing of George Floyd, after a Republican bill targeting the mural threatened city funding.

The phrase “Black Lives Matter” had been painted in June 2020 on the pavement by the city in uppercase, yellow letters, covering two blocks on 16th Street, about a quarter mile from the White House.

In 2021, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the mural would become permanent to commemorate the protests. But last week, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., introduced a bill calling for the city to paint over the mural and rename the area Liberty Plaza — or lose federal funds.

“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” Bowser wrote on X. 

A group of people gathered nearby to see the painting in its final moments on Monday.

“There’s no such thing as erasure,” D.C. resident Adrianne Lind said. “If that’s the attempt, it’s just not possible to do. It’s not just that we saw it — the whole world saw it.”

Floyd was killed in 2020 by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on his neck for several minutes. His death sparked nationwide demonstrations that summer — including in D.C. where, at one point, peaceful protesters were met with violence and tear gas by federal law enforcement.

Bowser told NPR’s Morning Edition on Monday the mural helped the city through a “very dark time in American history.”

“It’s going to evolve, absolutely,” she said, though she did not provide further clarification on what the plaza will look like in the future.

NPR’s Juliana Kim and WAMU’s Sarah Kim contributed to this report.