Five California police officers are suing the city of Palo Alto over a 'discriminatory' Black Lives Matter mural that was erected on the street across the street from the Silicon Valley town's city hall and police station.
The 245-foot-long mural, which spells out Black Lives Matter, features cop killer Assata Shakur, AKA Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted of the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster.
It also depicts the logo for the New Black Panthers, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Multiple officers based at the nearby police station have complained they feel 'harassed' by the mural every time they have to pass it.
'For law enforcement required to enter the building, is there any description other than a hostile work environment?' the National Police Association said in a statement.
'Officers, including (the five) Plaintiffs, were forced to physically pass and confront the Mural and its offensive, discriminatory, and harassing iconography every time they entered the Palo Alto Police Department,' the lawsuit filed on June 4 read.
Five California police officers are suing the city of Palo Alto over a 'discriminatory' BLM mural that was on display last summer
The lawsuit identified the five police officers as Eric Figueroa, Michael Foley, Christopher Moore, Robert Parham and Julie Tannock.
The mural in question was initially put on display last June amidst mass nationwide protests over the police-involved killing of George Floyd, and was originally intended on only remaining on display for a year, however it was gone by November.
The inclusion of Shakur, who is also rapper Tupac Shakur's aunt and godmother, is a controversial one, but she remains an icon for some among the black liberation movement who insist she is innocent and was framed for the murder.
After she was convicted, Shakur subsequently escaped prison before fleeing to Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her political asylum.
The former member and reputed leader of the Black Liberation Army, a Black Panthers splinter group, has eluded authorities ever since and remains on the FBI's Most Wanted list to this day.
Joanne Chesimard (left) is New Jersey's most wanted fugitive after being convicted of killing state trooper Werner Foerster before fleeing to Cuba in 1979
Elusive: Chesimard, seen here in an FBI photo, has eluded American authorities since her prison escape in 1979
Officer Julie Tannock was listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Palo Alto City
Officer Robert Parham, another California cop suing the Silicon Valley city
The National Police Association called the move to keep the celebratory mural 'reprehensible,' prompting the organization to create a petition last July to have it permanently removed.
'If it is not possible to imagine putting a 17' tall mural of nurse killer Richard Speck in front of a hospital or putting a 17' tall mural of Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, in front of a mayor's house, the atrocity of the celebration of a fugitive convicted cop killer in front of Palo Alto's City Hall is equally reprehensible,' the petition reads.
Oakland-area artist Cece Carpio, who's responsible for painting the Shakur part of the BLM mural, said she included the controversial figure due to the 'status quo' seeing Shakur as a threat to 'racial capitalism and white supremacy,' according to the Palo Alto Daily Post.
The outlet reports that in July 2020, city spokeswoman Meghan Horrigan-Taylor said 'in no way does the mural take away from the value we have in our police officers who serve our community every day.'
The 245-foot-long, 17-foot-tall mural depicts cop killer Assata Shakur, who was convicted in the 1973
