'Black Lives Matter Plaza,' Across From White House, Is Christened By D.C. Leaders

President Trump's term in office opened with a banner hanging from a crane not too far from the White House windows, declaring "Resist."

"The section of 16th [Street] in front of the White House is now officially 'Black Lives Matter Plaza,' " tweeted Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington, D.C.

With that announcement Friday, officials installed a new street sign above the intersection outside St. John's Church, where Trump made a controversial visit earlier this week.

Earlier Friday, artists with MuralsDC, a Department of Public Works project, and some volunteers painted "BLACK LIVES MATTER" in yellow capital letters down a two-block stretch north of the intersection, just across Lafayette Square from the White House.

The decision to create a Black Lives Matter Plaza did not please the D.C. chapter of the Black Lives Matter global organization, however, which rejected the project on Twitter as merely a "performative distraction from real policy changes."

"Black Lives Matter is a very critical of police; they're critical of me," the mayor responded.