Black Lives Matter Mural Opponents Lose Case Against D.C. Mayor

Three White Christian men lost their attempt to force the District of Columbia to remove a Black Lives Matter mural and allow them to paint their own, because they didn’t bring a valid First Amendment claim, a federal trial court said Monday.

The First Amendment’s restriction on government regulation of speech based on viewpoint discrimination doesn’t apply to the government’s own speech, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said.

The government speech doctrine barred the plaintiffs’ free speech claim, the court said. It granted Mayor Muriel Bowser’s motion for summary judgment.

Following nationwide protests in the ...