It has been an interesting week for Washington, D.C. residents in the city's Farragut Square area. Earlier this week, residents began reporting that the fencing around St. John's Episcopal Church and Lafayette Park had been taken down. Social media users shared their excitement by taking pictures of the locations and posting them online.
“It is a great day for St. John’s and for the District to have the fencing come down around the church,” Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington Mariann Budde told the DCist.
“St. John’s is a vibrant city church, deeply committed racial equity and peaceful civic engagement for the common good. There is no fence around our hearts, and we are relieved to have the physical barriers removed at last.”
The fencing is one of the remaining symbols of last summer's protests following the death of George Floyd. Initially, fencing went up after hundreds of protesters were tear-gassed outside of the White House as former President Donald Trump took a photo in front of the church. Over the summer, the fencing remained and artists hung artwork commemorating victims of police violence. As time went on, the artwork was removed and it appeared that the fencing would be removed as well. However, that is not the case.
Despite initial hopes that the fences would be taken down, U.S. Capitol Police has informed the public that the fencing is being "modified" and not removed altogether.
"To improve the flow of traffic around the Capitol Complex, the fencing along 3rd Street NW/SW is being modified to allow vehicle traffic along 3rd St," U.S. Capitol
Police tweeted Monday.
At this time, it is unclear how long the modification process will take. Furthermore, it is unclear if fencing will be a permanent addition to the downtown area in the nation's capital.
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