New fence around the White House becomes a canvas for protesters

NBC News.- New fencing put up around the White House to keep protesters at bay has become a magnet for demonstrators, who’ve been decorating it with signs honoring George Floyd and demanding police reform.

The new taller fencing started going up around the White House complex on June 1, after federal officials forcibly cleared a part of the area of peaceful protesters shortly before President Donald Trump toured the area on his way to a church that had suffered fire damage during rioting over the weekend.

The security measure was also implemented after The New York Times reported, and NBC News confirmed, that the president had been taken to a secure bunker during demonstrations the previous Friday.

The new fencing, which is 8 to 10 feet tall, obscures views of the White House from the street, but protesters have turned it into a tourist attraction in its own right by hanging numerous signs along it, including some with images of Floyd and others that say “Black Lives Matter” and call for “police reform now.”

Numerous demonstrators and visitors have been posing for pictures in front of the signs.

It’s unclear how long the fencing will stay up. A Secret Service spokesperson said last week that areas around the White House would remain closed until Wednesday June 10.