A rightwing protester has been charged with trespassing after interrupting a New York production of Julius Caesar during the assassination scene and shouting: “This is violence against Donald Trump.”
The protester, who later identified herself as Laura Loomer, interrupted the Shakespeare in the Park production on Friday night and shouted “this is political violence against the right” while audience members booed and told her to get off the stage.
The incident was filmed by Jack Posobiec, a rightwing provocateur best known for helping to spread the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. He stood up as Loomer was escorted off stage by security guards and yelled at the crowd: “You are all Goebbels. You are all Nazis like Joseph Goebbels … You are inciting terrorists. The blood of Steve Scalise is on your hands.”
Scalise, a top-ranking Republican, was wounded in a shooting at a congressional baseball practice on Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia. The gunman, James Hodgkinson, had a history of domestic violence. He was also a Bernie Sanders supporter who had criticized Trump on social media.
Posobiec continued to film himself saying “Goebbels would be proud” as he was escorted from the theatre, posting the video on Twitter with the caption: “Julius Caesar Gets SHUTDOWN.”
Reports from the audience said the play resumed within a minute, with the stage manager directing the cast to “pick up at ‘liberty and freedom’”.
Many people have used Shakespearean plays as a backdrop for current political discussion. I am also guilty of using the bard to state my points. (see Conscience of a King). While I don’t think I killed anyone off, Shakespeare provided a good framework for the point at hand.
Entertainment is often not tasteful. My protests have always have been to just stay away. Apparently the younger set prefers disruption. I thought the man and woman were far more offensive than what I could see of the play. Let’s face it, Julius Caesar was assassinated.
I wonder how many of the people who are so worked up about all of this know when Julius Caesar was assassinated or in what century(ies) William Shakespeare actually wrote. Truly classic works of art should transcend the ages. Topics such as blind ambition, loyalty and freedom have crossed the eons. Apparently these issues are alive and kicking today.
Julius Caesar is a short-lived outdoor production. Let’s keep it in its proper perspective. The Right has no room to squawk about violence when I can think of at least 4 abortion providers who have been murdered, as well as countless other violence related issues. Anyone who is motivated to violence in the name politics is an extremist. Those folks need to get it under control.
Anybody who knows anything about Shakespeare knows that Mark Anthony subsequently stirs up the people against the assassins with his funeral oration and they all pay the consequences for their actions.
This play has been repeatedly performed for more than four centuries and has been interpreted as a warning against rebellion or upsetting the Renaissance notion of the “Great Chain of Being,” where people were expected to accept their station in life. (My Shakespeare professor was dean of the college at the time.)
What’s tragic to me is that we have such craziness at both ends of the political spectrum.
I really wish we had like buttons here. I agree, Robin Hood.
I agree with much of what both you Moon and RH said here in this thread. I do not disagree with any of the points either of you have made. However, where was this when a Bernie Sanders supporting, huge Rachel Maddow fan, die hard Democrat and liberal with a target list attempted potentially the largest scale mass assignations in US political history? The selective outrage is telling…
Also, you have some strong feelings about two morons disrupting an insignificant play that neither of you will ever see depicting the assassination of our current President but I’ve never seen any threads or anger at alt-leftists (aka today’s young Democrats) shutting down free speech on college campuses with Molotov cocktails, fireworks and various other weapons or causing violence at pro-Trump rallies.
They come all dressed in black with their faces covered (like F’ing cowards) and act like the true fascists that they idolize all the while claiming to be fighting fascism; go figure. None of that gets any play… but interrupt some play that 99.999% of the population will never see and it gets attention.
Richard Hertz,
What a stretch!
Do you really think this guy who shot Scalise shared his intentions with us so we could talk him out of it?
Maybe more people would benefit from some exposure to the classics and diverse points of view. I’m sure you must be disappointed that we were able to set a calmer tone before you injected your venomous hatred into this.
If you want a confrontation with extremists from the other end of the spectrum you have to look elsewhere.
Missing– the chorus of left wing talk show commentators who try to blame this on the right and disavow that the shooter really was Y and not x.
Missing–the deniers.
Sanders stepped right up to the plate and denounced the shooter and whatever his motives were.
They are idiots. Why don’t you start a blog and cover them? I just am not interested.
I am also not outraged over the Julius Caesar play. The only reason I posted it was because Steve Thomas referenced it last week.
I don’t necessarily post about things I feel strongly about or am interested in. I try to post things that you all (including you) have brought up.
I think everyone is outraged about the carnage last week. No group should be gunned down like that. What I am really outraged about is that we don’t do more to keep douche bags like this from owning weapons. I have no solutions. It’s just blown off with some trite expressions about guns not killing people. I am also outraged that killers are now using cars intentionally to mow down people in cold blood. No I don’t want to eliminate cars but I would like to make sure those with malice in their hearts don’t have them. Yea, right–good luck with that one.
I would like to say that todays young Democrats aren’t all alt-leftists. Alt-leftists are the outliers. There are plenty of young Democrats and young Republicans who conduct themselves like human beings.
“Oh judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts
And men have lost their reason!”
That’s from Anthony’s funeral oration in the play and I can see why Sean Hannity would have a problem with that thought.