Thousands of protesters gathered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the evening of September 18, linking arms in a demonstration against the board's decision to close the Washington, D.C. landmark for two years. The rally took place three days after the board, which was hand-picked by President Donald Trump, announced the closure. The move followed months of legal conflict, during which a federal judge ruled twice that the president's name could not be added to the building. Trump had argued the center required renovations that only he could fund, and that his administration deserved recognition for the work.
"Don't lay a finger on JFK's memorial," said Chris Crowley, co-founder of Hands Off the Arts, the group that organized the demonstration. Tara Hoot, a D.C.-based drag artist who managed the event's programming, stated that more than 6,400 people attended the rally to defend the site, which she described as a memorial to an assassinated president.
The protest featured a variety of activities, including a performance of the National Anthem and a collective rendition of "America the Beautiful." Attendees wore anti-Trump gear and chanted "take it down" in reference to a tarp currently obscuring the building's name, which was covered following a judge's order to remove the president's name from the exterior. While the crowd intended to form an unbroken human chain around the entire facility, fenced-off sections prevented a complete loop, limiting the chain to the building's southern walls and eastern front side.
Prominent figures joined the demonstration, including actress Lynda Carter and politicians such as U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, and D.C. Councilman Robert White, the Democratic nominee for the district's non-voting congressional delegate seat. "The Kennedy Center will forever be the people's house," Jackson told the crowd. "This is not the Melania and Donald J. Trump House."
Earlier on September 18, President Trump defended his position from the Oval Office, with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. standing behind him. Trump characterized the center as a place that had "been a dump" and "lost money" for years. He maintained that he would provide funding for necessary repairs but insisted that the Trump administration should receive formal recognition for the efforts. Attendees remained steadfast in their opposition, with local resident David Weiss stating that the president is "holding it hostage" to place his name on a memorial, while Amniche Guerin of Prince George's County, Maryland, emphasized the importance of protecting the arts from government interference.
