Protesters once again interrupted Shakespeare in the Park’s production of Julius Caesar on Sunday when two individuals rushed on stage during the play, including during the now-famous scene in which a stand-in for President Donald Trump is brutally stabbed to death.
Javanni Valle and Salvatore Cipolla were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, according to the Associated Press.
Video of the dramatic scene shows a man rushing the stage shouting “Liberal hate kills!” and “Goebbels will be proud!” before being charged and tackled by several security and law enforcement officials, who dragged him off stage.
On Friday, Laura Loomer crashed Julius Caesar, stormed the stage, and shouted “Stop the normalization of political violence against the right! This is unacceptable!”
Video footage of Friday’s protest showed Loomer calling play-goers Nazis and suggesting that performances of the play inspired James T. Hodgkinson’s shooting attack on Republican lawmakers Wednesday.
“The blood of Steve Scalise is on your hands!” she shouted.
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/875884114280423428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fbig-hollywood%2F2017%2F06%2F17%2Fprotesters-crash-trump-assassination-julius-caesar-play-video%2F
Loomer was reportedly charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing and was released shortly after her arrest. More than $10,000 has since been raised for her legal defense fund.
I'm out of jail, but I'm not apologetic. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me & condemning political violence. https://t.co/QkZkxu1yCj
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) June 17, 2017
New York City’s Public Theater, the company behind the controversial play, posted a statement to Twitter Saturday blaming Friday’s incident on “paid protesters.”
“While we are champions of the first amendment, this interruption unfortunately was part of a paid strategy driven by social media,” the message read.
Statement from @PublicTheaterNY after a protester stormed the stage during tonight's production of Julius Caesar: pic.twitter.com/YsrCZCD2p1
— Kurt Chirbas (@kchirbas) June 17, 2017
Sunday marked the final performance of Julius Caesar this summer. Shakespeare in the Park will stage a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream during the second half of summer.
Performances of the play, which began in late May, have caused national controversy over the bloody stabbing of a blond hair and business suit-wearing Caesar character. Companies, including Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, have pulled funding from the theater.
New York City’s Public Theater has reportedly received nearly $30 million in federal, state, and city grants since 2009, according to data published by OpenTheBooks CEO and Forbes contributor Andrew Andrzejewski.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson
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