Political Troll: Rep. Nancy Mace Seeks To Rename Black Lives Matter Plaza After Charlie Kirk

Trump and other Republican lawmakers have said Black Lives Matter has antisemitic ties.

South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace has introduced a bill to rename the former Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., to Charlie Kirk Freedom of Speech Plaza.

Mace introduced legislation on December 11 to rename the well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in the nation’s capital. It comes nearly three months after Kirk, a conservative political activist, was killed during the first stop of his America Comeback Tour with Turning Point USA at an Utah college.

According to Mace, the change honors Kirk’s commitment to the First Amendment. She called him “a champion of free speech and a voice for millions of young Americans.”

According to WTOP, her bill would require official signs to be placed in the plaza and updates made to federal maps and records.

In 2020, the street was originally dedicated as Black Lives Matter Plaza following nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd. As soon as President Donald Trump took office for his second term, he and other Republican lawmakers advocated to remove the name. Lawmakers claimed that “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) had antisemitic ties.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered workers to paint over Black Lives Matter to appease the current administration and to slow down federal intervention city-wide, The Hill reports.

Mace doubled down on the name change.

“The BLM movement is a terrorist organization who targeted our law enforcement, rioted in our streets, looted, and burned cities to the ground,” she said on X. “One deserves to have memorials and recognition. You decide which.”

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is pushing back on Mace’s bill.

“D.C. deserves to decide what its own streets are named since over 700,000 people live in the city,” Norton wrote on X. “D.C. is not a blank slate for Congress to fill in as it pleases.”