‘Defund the Wall’ Street Mural Painted in Texas Border Town

City officials in Laredo, Texas, allowed a street to be painted with a “Defund the Wall” mural over the weekend. Protesters painted the 30-foot tall lettering on a street in front of the U.S. courthouse.

Laredo City Council members voted unanimously to allow “street art” depicting a message to “Defund the Wall” in late July, the Laredo Morning Times reported at the time. On Saturday, painters took to the street and began painting the anti-border security lettering.

The City Council allowed the painting of the protest message despite the fact the city has no permitting process in place to allow such activity, the local newspaper reported. Following the unanimous vote to allow the message, other groups came forward demanding the right to express other messages on public streets. At least one council member, Nelly Vielma, admitted she voted in favor of the painting project she agreed with the coalition’s message.

Until recently, the entire Laredo Sector did not include a single mile of border fencing or physical barriers. Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of building nearly 70 miles along the 110-mile stretch of the Rio Grande border between Texas and Mexico.

The “No Border Wall Coalition” reportedly wants to send a message to the Trump Administration that money for the wall could be better spent. The City Council of Laredo voted to allow the group to paint the mural. They claim the mural’s cost (estimated to be $5,000 to $10,000) will be paid for with non-taxpayer funds.

Fox2 Now reported that painting began on Saturday. In addition to the message of “Defund the Wall” the group also added the words, “Fund Our Future.”

“We are painting a street mural to defund the wall and fund our future because we need to send a message to Washington that we do not want or need a wall,” organizers stated, “and that money can be used for so many other things that we do need: Education, health care, housing, environmental concerns. There’s so many other areas where this money can be spent and we do not need this wall.”

Following demands from other groups, the Laredo City Council voted to develop a permitting process to allow more messages to be painted on public roadways, the Laredo newspaper reported. The proposed ordinances will be examined in an October meeting.

Laredo police officers reportedly wish to paint the streets they protect with a “Back the Blue” message. Others seek to paint a “Laredoans for the Wall” mural.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.