NYC mayor, activists paint Black Lives Matter outside Trump tower

Similar Black Lives Matter murals are planned in each of New York City’s five boroughs and have appeared across the United States.

New York’s mayor joined activists on Thursday to paint “Black Lives Matter” in giant yellow letters on the city’s Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower, once the crown jewel in US President Donald Trump’s empire.

An aerial view of a Black Lives Matter mural on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower in New York City. It was painted by activists along with civil rights leader Al Sharpton and mayor Bill de Blasio.

As doormen at the luxury apartment building’s shiny gold doorstep watched, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, along with Reverend Al Sharpton, who eulogised George Floyd in Minneapolis in early June, joined dozens of people pushing paint rollers to create the block-long mural.

The Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum after George Floyd, an African-American man, died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, knelt on his neck.

Last week, Trump had tweeted saying the mural was a “symbol of hate”.

Similar Black Lives Matter murals are planned in each of New York City’s five boroughs and have appeared across the United States.