OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert was allegedly escorted out of a “Beetlejuice” musical performance on Sunday night in downtown Denver after she was cited by theater staff for vaping, singing, recording, and “causing a disturbance” while the show was going on.
Officials with Denver Arts & Venues stated in an incident report to The Denver Post that two spectators were asked to leave the city-owned Buell Theatre during the performance of the traveling Broadway show. Before, during the intermission, they received a warning for acting in a way that resulted in three complaints from other theatergoers.
The report doesn’t mention Boebert as one of the customers or name the other individual. She was escorted out of the Buell during the performance, which her campaign office confirmed while disputing the alleged behavior.
“The incident report states that after receiving the intermission warning, about five minutes into the second act security officials received ‘another complaint about the patrons being loud and at the time (they) were recording.’ Taking pictures or recording is not permitted at shows,” the outlet noted.
The report quotes one of the ushers: “They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theater and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would (be) going to get Denver Police. They said go get them.”
The second-term congresswoman denied vaping during the show, according to Drew Sexton, Boebert’s campaign manager, who spoke to The Post. She did, despite being unaware that photos weren’t permitted, use her cellphone to capture the performance.
“I can confirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!) and, to the dismay of a select few, enthusiastically enjoyed a weekend performance of ‘Beetlejuice,’” Sexton wrote in a statement.
Sexton added that Boebert encourages everyone to see the play and its “fantastic cast, tremendous visuals and plenty of loud laughs.” He jokingly added, “with a gentle reminder to leave their phones outside of the venue.”
According to the report, police showed up and remained in the Buell’s lobby until Boebert and her companion left.
Lauren Boebert and friend are escorted out of Beetlejuice the musical https://t.co/E53rEI3vPG via @MailOnline
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) September 13, 2023
It’s true, I did thoroughly enjoy the AMAZING Beetlejuice at the Buell Theatre and I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud! 🤭
Everyone should go see it if you get the chance this week and please let me know how it ends! 😅https://t.co/8JHypcCKsP
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) September 12, 2023
Boebert made headlines earlier this week when she voiced her frustrations with President Joe Biden’s lack of action on securing the border.
The Colorado Republican is proposing trimming the salary of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appointee who was previously employed by a group that advocates against deporting migrant children to $1 per year as a provision of this year’s Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, the Daily Caller reported.
Boebert introduced an amendment to the bill aimed at reducing the salary of Claire Trickler-McNulty, the ICE Assistant Director for the Office of Immigration Program Evaluation.
Trickler-McNulty, who previously served as the Regional Director for Legal Services at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that assists undocumented migrant children in deportation cases, had her background and prior work scrutinized in a recent review by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
During her tenure at ICE, Trickler-McNulty oversaw the expansion of social services and initiatives designed to monitor undocumented immigrants beyond detention facilities.
Additionally, KIND has obtained financial support from the Open Society Foundations, a prominent left-leaning philanthropic organization funded by George Soros, and the Vera Institute of Justice, the latter of which actively opposes immigration detention practices and has characterized federal immigration enforcement agencies as a “threat to civil liberties.”
“I’ve seen it in different areas within the agency that sometimes with change there’s sort of a lot of resistance up front, but then as it sort of weaves into the agency culture, different things can be embraced in different ways and so I think a lot of it is just education, training, persistence and making sure that we’re really making alternatives on the table and part of the assessment and analysis going forward,” Trickler-McNulty said, the Daily Caller reported.
For her part, Boebert has submitted her provision to the ICE appropriations bill but it has yet to be finalized by the House Rules Committee, the DC reported.
