Seeing 'Black Lives Matter' Written in Chalk, One City Declares It a Crime

SELAH, Wash. — First came the warning: A police officer in the small city of Selah, Washington, told a group of young people that if they continued drawing “Black Lives Matter” chalk art on the sidewalk in front of City Hall, they would be charged with a crime.As the 10 protesters covered parts of their artwork with their bodies, a city worker walked between them, spraying away the exposed parts of their messages and sending tubs of chalk tumbling into the street.

Chalk art has long been a tableau for social activism, a form of instant commentary that takes political expression quite literally onto the streets. Cities have at times targeted it, such as in San Diego, where a man was charged with 13 counts of vandalism in 2013 for writing anti-bank messages on a public sidewalk. A jury acquitted him.

At one point, a letter from Police Chief Richard Hayes arrived addressed to Fabian’s older brother. It said the chalk drawing “is, by definition, graffiti” and could result in a citation. She said the family was stunned to see the Confederate flag openly flown by some people in the community and emblems of it worn at school.

The city insisted that it had a policy of cleaning away any chalk art it found, no matter the message, though Perez said she had seen no efforts to remove recent chalk art tied to school graduations. The lawyer working with Fabian’s family, Joseph Cutler, said that the city’s targeted cleaning of the protest messages amounted to an infringement on free speech.

Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)

If you don't have a problem with California charging people with a hate crime for painting over Black Lives Matter 'mural' then maybe you should mind your own business and let other cities deal with it how they see fit. Maybe they don't want the violence it brings.

White Lives Matter

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Controversial slave trader statue replaced by sculpture honoring Black Lives Matter protesterA statue of an English slave trader that was toppled by anti-racism protesters has been replaced by a sculpture of a Black protester. When are they going to put up a statue of Santa Claus?
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

The Graphic Designers Defining the Aesthetics of Black Lives MatterGraphics containing vital information for the movement took the place of photographs on social media—and caused a reckoning within the design community.
Source: wmag - 🏆 723. / 51 Read more »

Kaia Gerber 'all over' Cara Delevigne at Black Lives Matter protestKaia and Cara stepped out to share their support for the movement after quarantining together since the beginning of the pandemic back in March
Source: Mirror Celeb - 🏆 476. / 51 Read more »

How to Talk to Your Latinx Parents About Black Lives MatterFor many Latinxs, identity is a complicated thing. Here are expert-approved tips for talking to Latinx family members about race, colorism, and Black Lives Matter. Latino. Talking down to ethnic groups, classy! isn't the term 'latinx' erasing the cultural language structure of spanish speaking people to appease social justice activists?
Source: Cosmopolitan - 🏆 725. / 51 Read more »

Black Lives Matter Cofounder Opal Tometi on Film, Fashion, and “Diaspora Rising”.opalayo's latest project, Diaspora Rising, is a visual expression of African pride. opalayo Keep balling gal Thanks for this! xx opalayo Black lives matter, say no to racism
Source: voguemagazine - 🏆 715. / 51 Read more »

This Is How the NYPD Treated Black Lives Matter ProtestersA new investigation by the New York Times suggests that many of the attacks of beating, punching, tackling, and shoving — led by high-ranking officers — were not warranted, even by the NYPD’s own standards DoBetter
Source: TheCut - 🏆 720. / 51 Read more »