On Saturday, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities erected a bronze statue of controversial former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry just blocks away from the White House.
The former Democrat mayor “served four terms as mayor of DC from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999. He served several terms as a member of the D.C. City Council and did so until his death in 2014,” The Free Beacon reported.
The WFB notes that Barry “rose to national attention” in 1990 when he was busted by the FBI while smoking crack cocaine with a former girlfriend in a sting operation. Immediately after being arrested, Barry defended himself by insisting, “Bitch set me up.”
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The 8-foot-high bronze statue, ordered by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, reportedly cost approximately $250,000, which was paid for “by a combination of public and private funds,” Fox News reported.
Following his release from prison in 1992, Barry ran again in 1994 and was re-elected as Washington, D.C. mayor; he was later accused of being involved in corruption.
Barry was also an outspoken racist, specifically against Asians, saying in 2012, “We’ve got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I’ll just say that right now, you know.”
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