Redwood City in San Francisco’s Bay Area quietly scrubbed away its Black Lives Matter mural from a city street after a resident asked to paint a similar “MAGA 2020” on the same road, according to a local news report.
Redwood City resident Dan Pease received permission from city officials to paint “Black Lives Matter” on Broadway Street as part of a Fourth of July public art celebration, according to KPIX 5. City officials even supplied him with the yellow poster paint to make the mural.
“Because we were using the poster board paint that would eventually deteriorate over time, my understanding from them was that the mural would last as long as the paint lasted,” Pease explained, the outlet said.
Then, local real estate attorney Maria Rutenberg, who reasoned that the street was now a public forum, asked the city if she could paint her own “MAGA 2020” sign on the same street.
“I saw ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign appearing on Broadway Street on the asphalt and I figured that’s gonna be a new public space, open for discussion, and I wanted to get my message out, too,” Rutenburg said.
The city did not respond but promptly removed the Black Lives Matter mural, the news outlet said. They said the sign was a traffic hazard and might cause accidents.
Pease said he doesn’t believe “Black Lives Matter” to be a political statement but understands the position the city was in, according to KPIX 5. – READ MORE
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