LAREDO, Texas – Organizers and veterans helped retouch a “Defund the Wall” street mural in Laredo on the same day a car parade of Trump supporters were scheduled to pass over it.
Still, both events went on without issue after the Trump car parade was rerouted in an effort to avoid any physical conflict, according to a report from the Laredo Morning Times Online.
Recommended Videos
The “Trump Train,” a group of President Trump supporters, organized the parade of an estimated 300 participants, according to the Laredo Morning Times. Organizers told the newspaper that they had been in contact with different city officials about the event, which was planned to drive over the mural near the federal courthouse.
Posted by No Border Wall Coalition on Friday, September 11, 2020
The No Border Wall Coalition, who created the mural and is an organized group of Laredo residents and activists, obtained a permit from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the same day as the planned car parade, closing off the block to touch up the mural, the Laredo Morning Times reports.
The newspaper said the Trump Train did not receive a permit for the parade and organizers decided to reroute their parade to avoid any potential conflicts with the coalition.
Veterans United to Stop The Wall — a new wing of the coalition made up of Laredo veterans — collaborated with the League of United Latin American Citizens and city departments for weeks to secure the permit, according to the No Border Wall Coalition.
“As the Trump Train approached the edge of the mural site, the veterans raised a massive 30-foot tall banner tower that displayed their message: ‘STAND WITH VETS, STOP THE WALL, DEFEND LAREDO,’” The No Border Wall Coalition said in a statement.
The mural was approved unanimously by the Laredo City Council at the July 27 meeting.
According to a press release by the No Border Wall Coalition, their goal — aside from the mural — is to redirect the $275 million in wall funding toward social needs.
"The ‘Defund the Wall, Fund Our Future’ campaign aims to build the political will to shift the federal government’s priorities away from building a wall that will make local communities feel like an open-air prison, and towards creating real security: healthcare, jobs, education and a healthy environment,” the organization said in a press release.
Related: Laredo residents paint ‘Defund the Wall’ on street outside federal courthouse