In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump attacked a plan to paint a "Black Lives Matter" mural on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower – calling it a "Symbol of Hate" that would wind up ruining the luxury avenue outside his New York City home.
The proposed mural will look like the one painted near the White House last month, which was painted in bright yellow letters.
Black Lives Matter supporters in Roslyn criticized the president's tweets – saying his rhetoric is sowing seeds of division instead of unity.
“I thought it was absolutely repulsive. It's disgusting behavior,” said Michael Byrne, of Huntington. “…It's always been about him. He's done nothing to unify this country.”
Terrell Tuosto, of West Babylon, says the president has been “perpetuating the same rhetoric that's been going on in America for the last 400 years and it's based on fear.”
“We're here to show we're nothing to be afraid of,” says Tuosto. “That we are intellects, we move with dignity. We are not thugs, we're not animals like we've heard him say about us and other people like him. We're changing the narrative of the Black man in his country.”
On Sunday, President Trump tweeted, then deleted a video of a senior citizen in Florida saying “white power” during a rally supporting the president.
He has also vehemently defended Confederate monuments and called for the arrest of those trying to tear them down.
"This is a battle to save the Heritage, History, and Greatness of our Country!" he tweeted on Tuesday.