'Trump Failed Us' Projected Onto Arizona Mountain As U.S. COVID Death Toll Nears 227,000

The words "Trump failed us" were projected onto an Arizona mountain Tuesday night as the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 neared 227,000.

Nonprofit organizations and voting rights groups Progress Arizona, Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, LUCHA, Mi Familia Vota, and Por Nuestras Familias PAC collaborated to put on a light show against the backdrop of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix with just one week to go before the election.

One of the messages projected onto the mountain slammed the president's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and cited the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S.

"COVID deaths 224,601," it said, in English and Spanish. "Trump failed us. Vote Nov 3rd." The U.S. death toll has almost topped 227,000, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The light show also condemned the Trump administration's separation of migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, including in Arizona, under a "zero tolerance" policy for people who cross the border illegally.

"Trump took 5,400 kids. Stop cruelty. Vote Nov 3rd" was projected onto the mountain.

"We were glad to see this projection get such a positive response," Emily Kirkland, the executive director of Progress Arizona, told Newsweek. "It's clear that Arizonans are more than ready to be done with the catastrophic presidency of Donald Trump."

The project was about "literally putting a spotlight on just how disastrous Donald Trump's presidency has been for Arizona, and for America as a whole," Kirkland added to The Arizona Republic.

Photojournalist Alfredo Kaspar tweeted that the light show continued for around 90 minutes before it was taken down. The Phoenix Police Department has been contacted for comment.

Kristin Urquiza, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and blamed Trump for her father's death from COVID-19, praised the light show on Twitter.

"I keep hearing about this projection on Camelback Mountain and it makes my heart flutter," she wrote. "Keep showing up and fighting back. We can do this."

Urquiza made headlines after she wrote an obituary for her father, Mark Anthony Urquiza, of Tolleson, Arizona, who died in June.

She wrote that his death was "due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk."

During her appearance at the Democratic convention, she said her father "was a healthy 65-year-old" whose "only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump—and for that he paid with his life."

She has launched a website called Marked By COVID with a mission to elevate "the truth about COVID to save lives."

Update 10/29/20: This article was updated with comment from Emily Kirkland.