New York Met cancels opera after ashes tipped into orchestra pit
The unidentified suspect fled the scene and no arrests have been made over the incident
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.New York City’s Metropolitan Opera was forced to cancel a Sunday afternoon performance of Gioachino Rossini's Guillaume Tell after a member of the audience sprinkled what police believe to be cremated ashes into the orchestra pit, according to Reuters.
“An individual from out of town... indicated that he was here to sprinkle ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance,” John Miller, deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism told reporters.
The Met Opera stated on its Facebook page that the performance was cancelled during the second intermission because of a disturbance by an audience member, in which an unindentifed substance was sprinkled into the orchestra pit.
The post also states that the evening performance of L’Italiana in Algeri was additionally cancelled while authorities investigated the incident.
There are no reports of any injuries or negative reactions triggered by the substance among the audience, though the theatre was evacuted while the New York Police Department dispatched a special unit to investigate, stated officer Tiffany Phillips.
The unidentified suspect fled the scene and no arrests have been made.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments