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Thousands join protest outside Kennedy Center, expressing concern that Trump might tear it down · Best of: Features

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  Thousands joined protest outside Kennedy Center expressing concern that Trump might tear
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  it down. This article is being read by an automated
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  voices generated by Everlet. Washington, the AP, thousands of people
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  joined outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Friday
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  evening to protest President Donald Trump's plans for the facility, lending their
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  voices to a chorus of organizations and individuals who have been horrified
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  that he might make good on his threat to close and tear
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  down the storied institution. The crowd streamed in from the nearest subway
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  stop, crowding streets in the foggy bottom area of Washington, and locking
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  down traffic as the walked, many carrying signs, as they joined in
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  hands around the Kennedy Center. At one point some held hands and
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  formed a human chain around the center. Chris Raleigh, co founder of
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  Hands Off the Arts, which set up the gathering, said in an
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  interview that he hoped the event would show that people are willing
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  to fight to keep Trump's plans for the building at bay. One
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  of the most iconic buildings on the Potomac River waterfront, The
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  Kennedy Center has been a focus of Trump's remake of Washington since
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  twenty twenty five, when he began installing favorites onto its governing board.
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  Late last year he had his name placed On the center. A
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  judge ruled that Trump's name was illegally added and ordered it removed.
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  The Kennedy Center Board, which is aligned with the President, voted Tuesday
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  to close the center indefinitely for repairs hours after U.S. District Judge
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  Christopher Cooper blocked their plans to return Trump's name to the building.
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  On Thursday, the judge ordered the
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  Kennedy Center to provide thirty days notice before making any major physical
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  changes to the building, including demolishing it. Raleigh said he, like others,
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  is concerned that’s Trump could take the step without notifying the court.
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  Look at the East Wing, he said. We got up one morning,
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  and there was a giant hole there. Raleigh said the Kennedy Center
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  is more in the public eye than the East Wing was. He
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  added he doesn't believe the President fully understands why people are so
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  upset, but that's our job right. This may be the line that
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  no one expected, but this is where The
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  line is going to be. A landmark of the performing arts has
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  gone silent, Protesters talked about the importance of the center as the
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  pinnacle of the nation's performing arts world. Bud Wilkinson, a local member
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  of the arts community, set up a chalkboard with Trump's name written
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  on it hundreds of times. Protesters flocked to him to erase the
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  names and replace them with hearts. The Kennedy Center is vital to
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  the arts in Washington. We need it. We need this, Wilkinson said.
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  This is not just about putting the president's name on.
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  The Kennedy Center. It's about censoring the performances and the programming. That's
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  what started all this. So that's what the nitty gritty really is
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  about this. So I want to replace all of this with love.
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  That's why there's a heart. Alina Bachou talked about They opportunities and
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  relationships that students at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts have
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  with the center, And how those relationships might be impacted by what's
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  going on. Her daughter had numerous opportunities to take advantage of all
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  the center had to offer as a student at Duke Ellington, she
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  said I mean they borrowed the beautiful costumes and the beautiful dresses
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  from the Washington National Opera for their performances at Duke Ellington, she
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  said. They also performed on the Center's Millennium Stage. All of those
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  things have gone away because of this craziness, and it just hurts
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  my heart, Bachu said. Laura Steinberg, a volunteer for the last ten
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  years, said the loss of performances has already been heart wrenching. This
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  reminds me of that picture from Tiananmen Square, where that young man
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  stood in front of The tank, she said of the throngs present.
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  This was my visceral response to this. I'll stand in front of
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  the wrecking ball if it's going to come to that. My guess
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  is many of these people would come down, because we saw what
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  he did to the East Wing. Nobody thought he would actually do
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  it, so I think the shock has mobilized people. Friday's event followed
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  a tumultuous week in federal courts in Washington where filings and counterfilings
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  flooded the courts as the administration continues pushing for the President's vanity
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  projects. The administration has made substantive steps to begin work on a
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  number of projects, despite the fact they are still being litigated. Such
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  projects include Trump's Triumphal Arch and the administration's takeover of East Potomac
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  Gulf links and the U. S. Institute of Peace. Speaking from the
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  Oval Office, Trump said he was willing to save the center, which
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  he said was losing money. He did not address a question about
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  demolishing it. We have a lot of people working very hard on
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  it to save it, he said. I can save it easily, but
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  why should we be doing that, and then raise money for the
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  rest of our lives to keep it afloat? Because that's what you
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  have to do if we get no recognition. I think the Trump
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  administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center.