New York City officials announced earlier this week that they plan to have “Black Lives Matter” painted on Fifth Avenue, right in front of Trump Tower. President Donald Trump denounced the plan, claiming that Black Lives Matter protesters have recently chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” and the New York City Police Department is not happy with the idea. The phrase has already been painted on a block-long strip in Brooklyn and was painted on the street leading to the White House in Washington, D.C.
“Told that [Mayor] Bill de Blasio wants to paint the fabled & beautiful Fifth Avenue, right in front of Trump Tower/Tiffany, with a big yellow Black Lives Matter sign,” Trump wrote. “‘Pigs in a Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon,’ referring to killing Police, is their chant. NYC Police are furious!” However, Black Lives Matter protesters have not used the “pigs in a blanket” phrase recently. Protesters were caught on video using the phrase during a 2015 Minnesota protest, which Tucker Carlson recently showed on his Fox News program, reports The New York Times.
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New York City officials announced plans to paint the “Black Lives Matter” phrase on Fifth Avenue next week, between 56th and 57th Streets. Julia Arredondo, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Trump “is a disgrace to the values we cherish” in New York City. “He can’t run or deny the reality we are facing, and any time he wants to set foot in the place he claims is his hometown, he should be reminded Black Lives Matter,” Arredondo added.
The Fifth Avenue street mural will be among several the city plans to unveil, with at least one coming to all five boroughs. Staten Island’s was painted on Richmond Terrace, between Hamilton Avenue and the Ferry Terminal Viaduct. Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx will each get one, while two more are planned for Manhattan. Volunteers and artists created the one already found in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
Black Lives Matter protests have been organized in all 50 states since George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25. Protesters have also demanded the defunding of police departments. On Thursday, protesters gathered outside New York City Hall to demand de Blasio slash $1 billion from the NYPD’s $6 billion budget. Protester Jocelyn Taylor told WABC the money could be used “for communities, we could use that money to ensure that kids are getting a decent education, that they have community centers, after-school programs — things that interest them that will be building a better society.”
