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Republicans press DC mayor to rename Black Lives Matter Plaza

by Elizabeth Crisp - 10/24/23 11:48 AM ET

FILE - A person holds their fist in the air, April 20, 2021, in Washington at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House after the verdict in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was announced in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, a California judge dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) — FILE – A person holds their fist in the air, April 20, 2021, in Washington at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House after the verdict in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was announced in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, a California judge dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Some Republican lawmakers are calling on Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to rename the two-block area in front of the White House that was dubbed “Black Lives Matter Plaza” three years ago amid a wave of racial justice protests.

Groups affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have faces a backlash after messages sent out following the grisly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel appeared to support terrorists and express anti-Israel sentiment.

“BLM chapters across the nation have circulated disturbing anti-Semitic rhetoric and images on social media, encouraging the spread of pro-Hamas propaganda,” the group of more than 20 House and Senate members, all Republicans, wrote in a statement accompanying their letter.

“Continuing to honor terrorist sympathizers with a plaza in our nation’s capital is a slap in the face to all Americans, especially Jewish and Israeli Americans.”

Among Republicans signing the letter: Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Bill Cassidy (La.); and Reps. Elisa Stefanik (N.Y.), Jim Banks (Ind.) and Jeff Duncan (S.C.).

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the letter or plans for the plaza.

Immediately after Hamas’s deadly blitz on Israel, which included attacks on multiple kibbutzim and an outdoor music festival, some BLM chapters expressed sympathy with Palestine and appeared to justify the aggression against Israel.

A BLM Chicago chapter posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, an image of a paraglider with the message “I stand with Palestine.” BLM Phoenix shared statements declaring that “Palestinian freedom fighters are not terrorists!,” and “The Palestinian attack was a revolution and attempt to reclaim their freedom.”

BLM chapters are run independently and can be unaffiliated with the broader Black Lives Matter organization, which hasn’t commented on the latest Israeli-Hamas conflict.

“These posts are meant to delegitimize Israel and rationalize brutal attacks on the Jewish people,” the GOP lawmakers wrote in their letter. “It is hard to escape the conclusion that these statements are motivated by an ugly animus against the Jewish people.”

Israeli officials estimate that more than 1,400 people were killed during the Hamas raids, making it the deadliest attack ever on Israel. Israel’s military has responded with a blitz of airstrikes over the past two weeks that Gaza health officials say have killed thousands.

Black Lives Matter Plaza was named during a summer of protests following the police killings of George Floyd and other Black people. In addition to having a bright yellow street mural marking the zone, Bowser had a street sign placed to designate the area.

“There are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen and to have their humanity recognized,” Bowser said during a June 2020 news conference announcing the renaming. “We had the opportunity to send that message loud and clear on a very important street in our city.”