A New York City performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was interrupted by protesters, for the second time, over the weekend, according to New York Post.
Javanni Valle, 26, and Salvatore Cipolla, 28, were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct when they allegedly disrupted the Public Theater’s final staging of the iconic play. Their interpretation has been the center of a nationwide controversy, as it replaced the titular Roman emperor with an actor who resembles President Trump.
Valle and Cipolla allegedly rushed the stage at different segments of the performance, with one protester yelling “Liberal hate kills!”
“During the show a guy jumped on stage, had on fake camera glasses, calling everyone Goebbels and Nazis and he was tackled and [taken] out,” a spectator told New York Post. “It was unsettling.”
The theatergoer noted that the second protester made his move during the infamous assassination scene, and was quickly apprehended, grumbling “I’m tired of this bulls***” as he was carried away.
Sunday’s stunt comes just two days after another critic derailed the production.
On Friday, right-wing activist Laura Loomer, 24, livestreamed herself rushing the stage, yelling “Stop the normalization of political violence against the right! This is unacceptable!” She was arrested, but released within several hours, according to CBS News. Despite being briefly incarcerated, Loomer said she did not regret her actions and would do it over again, Crime Online has reported.
Supporters of the president have taken issue with the play since its inception, as the dramatization ends with the Trump-like figure getting violently stabbed to death.
Due to the controversial subject matter, and the notion that the play may condone violence against a sitting president, the Public Theater has faced serious blowback from these performances. Some major sponsors have even pulled their funding, including Delta and Bank of America, according to USA Today.
Delta was particularly candid, tweeting that the production “crossed the line on the standards of good taste.”
[Featured Image: YouTube/screengrab]
