Extra security will be on hand for upcoming performances by the Shen Yun Performing Arts Company at the Kennedy Center after a bomb threat against the group.
A threatening email claimed a bomb had been placed in the theater and would be detonated should Shen Yun be allowed to perform, according to the group’s spokesperson. Nothing was found.
Thursday’s threat, which forced an evacuation of the building, is not the first the group has received on this year’s tour.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “Over the past few weeks of Shen Yun's global tour, similar threats have been received by theaters in San Jose and Berkeley, California, Waterbury, Connecticut, Atlanta, Georgia, San Antonio, Texas, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as in theaters where Shen Yun was performing in France, Italy, England, and Poland.”
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TV commercials describe the performing arts company as a blend of traditional Chinese dance and symphonic music. It was created in the U.S. in 2006 by Hongzhi Li, the founder of the Falun Gong movement.
In describing the Kennedy Center bomb threat, the Shen Yun spokesperson referenced the Chinese government’s targeting of Falun Gong and its practitioners for persecution.
“While all cases were reported to the police and the FBI, they have all been pranks meant to scare theaters and audience members,” the spokesperson said. “The threats, often in Chinese, come at the same time that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has escalated its campaign to try to ‘eliminate’ Shen Yun and Falun Gong globally.”
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Shen Yun’s performances at the Kennedy Center run through March 2. The spokesperson said extra security will be provided for the show’s entire run.
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