After Caesar Is Knifed to Death, Protesters Emerge

"This is violence against Donald Trump." It's not a line written by William Shakespeare, but it's one that was uttered during Friday night's production of Julius Caesar in New York's Central Park. The Public Theater's reimagining of the play has been the subject of controversy over its choice to have a President Trump lookalike (Gregg Henry) play the title character—and ultimately be stabbed to death by a group of women and minorities. After that fatal scene, two protesters brought the show to a halt for what Artistic Director Oskar Eustis says was "less than a minute" in a statement. Laura Loomer, 24, rushed the stage and cried out the former line, along with, "Stop the normalization of political violence against the right."

The New York Times reports she calls herself "a right-wing investigative journalist and activist" and has connections to James O'Keefe. A man the Times frames as her "collaborator," Jack Posobiec, went with a WWII reference, calling out, "You are all Goebbels." The pair were removed by security to applause. Loomer was ultimately charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after refusing orders to back away from the theater. Posobiec explained their motivation to Fox News, first echoing Loomer, "We were protesting what we saw was the normalization of violence. I couldn't believe they were going on with the play in light of what happened with the attack on Congressman Scalise." A tweet from the Public Theater described the two as "paid protesters." (More William Shakespeare stories.)