Redwood City

A Change.org petition was launched in opposition of the Redwood City’s decision to remove the Black Lives Matter street mural on Broadway Avenue last weekend.

The words Black Lives Matter was painted in large yellow letters on Broadway on the Fourth of July after local resident Daniel Pease received approval to do so from the city. Last weekend, the city removed the paint from the street, citing traffic safety reasons and adding it was meant to be part of an art installation related to the peaceful BLM protest in Courthouse Square on June 2 and was meant to be temporary.

Supporters of the street mural, however, believe the city removed it under pressure from a local real estate attorney, who requested the right to paint MAGA 2020 on the same street. The attorney, Maria Rutenberg, argued that Redwood City unconstitutionally chose to become “arbiters of private expression” when it allowed the BLM street painting. Before approving it, the city should have engaged in a public process as it would when erecting monuments, Rutenberg stated on Facebook.

The Change.org petition calls the city’s removal of the mural “an example of white supremacy.”

“Based on a single complaint by a white woman, the City Council unilaterally decided to remove the mural and did so despite receiving numerous requests from the community to keep it,” the petition states.

As of Tuesday morning, the petition opposing the mural’s removal had received 375 signatures.

“Sign here to show your support for the BLM mural and to demand that our City Council listens to the community when making such decisions in the future,” it states.

Photo credit: Jim Kirkland