A Michigan city stopped people from repainting a Black Lives Matter street mural, claiming it posed 'traffic safety concerns'

• Volunteers can't repaint a Black Lives Matter mural on a main street in Flint, city officials said.
• City officials said the mural poses "traffic safety concerns," blaming the decision on state officials.

The city of Flint, Michigan prevented volunteers from repainting a Black Lives Matter street mural just days ahead of the city's Juneteenth celebration last month.

Now, a month later, local and state administrators are pointing fingers at each other over who was behind the decision to halt the public art project.

The street mural first appeared on Martin Luther King Avenue in 2020, and supporters of the public art project wanted to spruce it up and rededicate it for the city's Juneteenth celebration last month, according to The Flint Journal.

City Administrator Clyde Edwards said in a statement to the outlet on July 11 that the city never granted a permit for the street mural and has turned down others who have wanted to create similar murals.

Edwards did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, nor did the Flint chapter of Black Lives Matter.

"The city of Flint understands street murals to pose a variety of traffic safety concerns, and we will not allow them," Edwards told the outlet. "While the city of Flint supports many other Juneteenth activities in the community, the Michigan Department of Transportation has informed us that they will begin enforcing regulations that prohibit street murals and will shut down Martin Luther King (Boulevard) if it is repainted."

However, a spokesperson from the Michigan Department of Transportation denied Edwards' claim that the department would shut down the street, The Flint Journal reported.

Jocelyn Garza, a Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson, told the outlet that the street "is a locally owned road, and does not require an MDOT permit." Garza added that the department would work "to ensure a streetscape mural does not interfere with federal aid qualifications."

"That said, in this case, it is not our place to issue a permit for the work requested," Garza said. "Nor would we ever intend to shut down MLK Boulevard."

Garza did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

It's not the first time such a mural has faced pushback. Black Lives Matter murals across the state have previously been vandalized.