A tribute mural to murdered Ukrainian refugee and legal immigrant Iryna Zarutska, once displayed on an outdoor brick wall in Providence, Rhode Island, is now being removed after sustained pressure from local left-wing activists and Democrat officials.
According to the Gateway Pundit, the artwork, which honored Zarutska after she was killed while riding a train in North Carolina, had already drawn intense criticism from progressive residents almost as soon as it appeared in March. The mural was displayed on the exterior of The Dark Lady, an LGBTQ+ club in downtown Providence, and quickly became a target for activists who demanded that the image and the uncomfortable truths it represented be taken down.
FOX News reports that on Tuesday, a construction crew arrived at the site and began dismantling the partly finished mural. The mural, which was painted on canvas, was lowered to the ground, folded up and taken away, WJAR-TV reported.
Artist Ian Gaudreau acknowledged that the decision to remove the piece was a direct response to the outcry from local residents and officials. A lot of people voiced their frustrations, and voices were heard, and the work is coming down as a reaction to that, Gaudreau told WJAR-TV Monday.
The office of Democrat Mayor Brett Smiley confirmed that he supported the murals removal, framing the artwork as out of step with the citys preferred political narrative. The office of Mayor Brett Smiley told Fox News that he wanted the artwork taken down, saying that the art is divisive and does not represent Providence.
Smiley went further in a formal statement, attempting to separate the tragedy of Zarutskas murder from the message behind the mural. The murder of the individual depicted in this mural was a devastating tragedy, but the misguided, isolating intent of those funding murals like the one across the county is divisive and does not represent Providence, Smiley said in a statement.
For many on the right, the explanation is straightforward: progressive officials and activists do not want a public reminder that the policies they champion particularly on crime and immigration can have deadly consequences for law-abiding immigrants seeking safety in America. The lefts opposition to this mural is very easy to explain; they do not want to be reminded that the policies they support are responsible for her death.
While murals of figures like George Floyd are celebrated and replicated in cities across the country, a solemn tribute to a murdered Ukrainian refugee is treated as an offense to be erased. Of course, leftists are free to paint murals of George Floyd wherever they want to, because thats (D)ifferent.
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