I think it’s safe to say that Rhode Island Democrats have not covered themselves in glory with the way they have responded to a mural of Iryna Zarutska that was being painted on the side of a building in Providence.
RedState reported Monday on how the city’s woke mayor, Brett Smiley, had called for the mural of the murdered 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee to be removed on grounds that it was “divisive.”
“I continue to encourage our community to support local artists whose work brings us closer together rather than further divides us,” Smiley proclaimed in his original statement, citing the alleged “misguided, isolating intent of those funding murals like this across the country” (read: Elon Musk).
As we also documented, the owners of the LGBTQ club that had allowed the mural to be put up had to issue multiple statements due to the outcry, first to reassure the community that they were, in fact, Democrats who didn’t support President Trump, and then later to confirm they would be bending the knee to the mob and having the rendering removed.
Not surprisingly, Smiley is doubling down on his own divisive rhetoric, admitting in two local interviews that the funding from Musk was the impetus behind his call to have the mural removed.
He also claimed that there was never a mandate from him that it be taken down, even though he knows full well and good that making public comments voicing his displeasure, along with what he felt should be done about it, undoubtedly would fuel the fire and make the flustered club owners feel they had no choice.
Also unmentioned in a lot of reporting on this story is the fact that the mayor is gay and married, a fact that could have pushed the bar owners to act out of a misguided sense of loyalty:
Providence Mayor on why wants the Iryna Zarutska mural to come down:
“A movement was funded by some right-wing billionaires.”
“It wasn’t bringing us together as a community.”
In other words: The mural is a powerful reminder of the disastrous failures of his party’s policies. pic.twitter.com/5gyVdNjfiF
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 2, 2026
Providence Mayor defends his call for removal of Iryna mural:
“This has not brought us closer together as a community, in fact, has been quite divisive and even a little bit ugly.”
Says if someone else wanted to house the mural:
“We wouldn’t prevent them from putting it… https://t.co/dhr4IWnfd3 pic.twitter.com/FVXZFDkXYw
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 2, 2026
Honestly, it’s just gaslighting on steroids for him and anyone else opposed to the mural to cite it creating “division” as a reason for it to come down, because they are the ones who created the division in the first place. Further, I suspect there was division over the George Floyd murals that went up in Providence, too, but we didn’t see any calls from city or state Democrats for those to come down, did we?
I’m not sure whose comments were worse, though. The mayor’s or this clown’s:
“Ultimately, we want to make sure that every community member who calls Providence home feels safe,” [state] Rep. David Morales told local media about a mural of Zarutska facing calls to be removed from the exterior of an LGBTQ+ club in downtown Providence.
“We can both agree that this mural behind us does not reflect Providence’s values nor does it reflect the creativity that we would want to see in our city.”
As the Rhode Island GOP pointed out, this is not about art. It’s about selective outrage. But it’s also about priorities – and Rhode Island Democrats continue to tell us what theirs really are: Not the victims of violent crime, but rather the need for Democrats to try and squelch any and all debate about how their dangerous soft-on-crime policies that lead to repeat offenders being let back out onto the streets create more victims like Iryna Zarutska.
Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.
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