(No) Thanks For The Memories: Black Lives Matter Plaza Is Finally Gone

(Me on the right filming a man get chased and attacked in BLM Plaza, August/2020. Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

I spent a lot of time outside the White House in 2020. More than I ever had at the point ever since I moved to the D.C. area in 2017. The reason was because the area between K St NW and H St NW, right outside Lafayette Square, had become the staging ground for many BLM and anti-Trump protests that year.

The reason that particular space was chosen was because people could no longer access Lafayette Square due to BLM rioters attempting to storm the perimeter of the White House, injuring many police officers in the process, and almost tearing down the statue of President Andrew Jackson in the park during the early days of the riots. Lafayette Square was completely fenced off to the public.

So the blocks between K St NW and H St NW were the go-to spot for many protests as the year progressed. To add to the many pointless virtue signaling gestures made that year, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) used taxpayer money to officially designate those blocks as Black Lives Matter Plaza.

So in honor of BLM Plaza being removed this week, here are some of my favorite and craziest moments I filmed in 2020.

Protester having a meltdown because police used pepper spray on the crowd (because the crowd tried to tear down the Jackson statue in Lafayette Square).

One example of the many American flags burned in the plaza during the summer.

BLM guy threatening to beat up D.C. police during the COVID-version of the RNC.

Man (from the featured image) is pushed out of the plaza.

Trump supporters are attacked with fireworks after the 2020 election.

D.C. police try to keep BLM rioters and Trump supporters away from each other.

Anti-police protesters beg D.C. police to stop Trump supporters from tearing down their signs.

As I said on my X account, it’s crazy to think a movement that fomented destructive riots for nearly a year, including in that very location, was rewarded with a plaza right outside the White House. People truly lost their minds that year, and many never recovered.