US: DC Mayor says 'Black Lives Matter' mural 'stays'

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser says the Black Lives Matter mural on the city's 16th street will have "a central place, not in just D.C. history, but in American history."

The city of Washington last week capped nightly demonstrations against police brutality by painting the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House.

It's a highly visible display of the local government’s embrace of a protest movement that has put it even further at odds with President Donald Trump.

Bowser said after the mural was completed Friday that it was intended to send a message of support and solidarity to Americans outraged over the killing of George Floyd.

"Like all of our other public art, it stays, " Bowser said Monday."We will continue to talk about ways to make that a part of the fabric of D.C.."

Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Chief defended the city's policing, amid calls in some cities to de-fund police departments, saying the city had been reforming since a 2002 agreement with the Justice Department.

(Representative Image)