Following the recent ICE killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti, Renee Good and Keith Porter Jr., the NYC theater community is coming together in protest.
On Saturday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., The Public Theater will host “The People’s Filibuster”, a non-ticketed, live-streamed event on the steps of the 425 Lafayette St. venue, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Leguizamo and Constance Wu among a lineup of “artists, elected officials and community leaders, as we read seminal texts from the founding of our nation alongside writings and songs that articulate our shared ideals and democratic aspirations, not as history alone, but as a living call to action.”
According to The Public’s website, the lineup also includes Annaleigh Ashford and Joe Tapper, Laura Benanti, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Michael Cerveris, John Ellison Conlee, Micaela Diamond, Jessica Hecht, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, Mona Mansour, Luis A. Miranda Jr., F. Murray Abraham, Robert O’Hara, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Leigh Silverman and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, with more to be announced soon.
“We stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Minnesota and across the country who are angry and grieving, protesting state-sanctioned violence and abuses of power, and organizing for the safety, dignity, and human rights of all,” The Public states.
They add, “Artists have always been among the first to name the unspoken, to hear the unheard, and to imagine a more just world. In this moment of crisis, our intention is to create a collective interruption that invites reflection, accountability, and recommitment to the values we claim as a nation, protesting and contrasting the abhorrent violence and abuses we are witnessing all around us.”
“The People’s Filibuster” comes following Saturday’s killing of 37-year old ICU nurse Pretti, which the Department of Homeland Security claimed was necessary force, despite contradicting bystander videos.
As was the case with the fatal shooting of Good earlier this month, bystander video quickly emerged on social media, pitting the images up against the version of events relayed by the Department of Homeland Security. The eyewitness videos quickly raised doubts by Minnesota officials, legal analysts and some gun rights advocates over the Trump administration’s claims.
At an earlier press conference, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called on Donald Trump to remove the federal presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from the state.
With the escalating violence from ICE, many are calling for the resignation of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem. Meanwhile, immigration is one topic that is expected to heavily influence the outcome of midterm elections in November.
English (US) ·