DC convoy speaker says Black Lives Matter street will be ‘tarred and feathered’

A member of the “People’s Convoy” said that he was going to tar and feather Black Lives Matter Plaza while speaking to a crowd gathered in Washington, D.C.

The People’s Convoy, was inspired by the Canadian trucker’s “Freedom Convoy” movement. The group gathered in the nation’s capital to demonstrate against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 protocols in the United States. 

In a video captured by The Daily Beast, a speaker standing on a stage bearing a sign for “Freedom Convoy 2022” tells a crowd to “take back” a street adorned with the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” which stretches for two blocks on 16th Street NW in D.C.

The street mural is located near the White House, and was painted in response to the social unrest following the Minneapolis police killing of a Black man, George Floyd, in 2020. 

“What’s going to happen up here in D.C., Black Lives Matter Street, we’re going to take it back. All that paint’s coming off that street,” the speaker said. “Before I get put in my grave, it’s going to get tar and feathered.”

It’s unclear who the speaker is, but “People’s Convoy” organizer Mike Landis handed him the microphone, according to The Daily Beast.

The Hill has reached out to the organizers of the People’s Convoy for comment.

The Metropolitan Police Department and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency told The Daily Beast they had the resources and support needed to monitor and respond to any illegal activity.

The street gained national attention and was hailed by late civil rights icon John Lewis.