D.C. mayor paints 'Black Lives Matter' on street leading to White House

WASHINGTON — The mayor of Washington, D.C., had the slogan "Black Lives Matter" painted in massive yellow letters on a street leading to the White House on Friday in tribute to victims of police brutality as she sparred with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mayor Muriel Bowser's defiant message came as tensions remained high across the nation over the death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody nearly two weeks ago, prompting political leaders in that city and elsewhere to announce new restrictions on law enforcement.

"Breonna Taylor, on your birthday, let us stand with determination," Bowser, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter in reference to a 26-year-old black woman who was shot dead by Louisville, Kentucky, police in March. "Determination to make America the land it ought to be."

Bowser and Trump are at odds over the president's use of federal law enforcement agencies and military police to put down demonstrations. U.S. Park Police fired smoke grenades and chemical irritant "pepper balls" to break up a protest on Monday night so Trump could walk from the White House to a nearby church for a photo opportunity.

"We want troops from out-of-state out of Washington, D.C.," Bowser, who has called for the District of Columbia to be granted U.S. statehood, told reporters on Thursday.

The city also installed a street sign for "Black Lives Matter Plaza" at the intersection of H and 16th Streets.

"The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who's budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for 'handouts', is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment," Trump responded on Twitter. "If she doesn't treat these men and women well, then we'll bring in a different group of men and women!"

On Friday, a U.S. official said the Pentagon would be standing down the remaining 900 active-duty troops who had been deployed to the Washington, D.C., area.

Streets around the White House have been a focus of demonstrations that have swept the nation to protest the May 25 death of Floyd, 46, after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck for nearly nine minutes.

Protests have also rocked cities including Atlanta, Denver, Detroit and Los Angeles, as well as many smaller communities.

After video footage from upstate New York raised further questions about the handling of demonstrators by law enforcement, two Buffalo police officers seen on Thursday shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground were suspended and placed under investigation.