Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was escorted out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver over the weekend after multiple complaints from other members of the audience.
As the Denver Post reports, the far-right Congresswoman and her companion were accused of vaping, singing, recording the show, and “causing a disturbance.”
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According to an incident report, officials with Denver Arts & Venues said that two people were asked to leave a Sunday night performance of the touring production of the Broadway musical at the city-owned Buell Theatre. Prior to being asked to leave, they had been warned during intermission about their behavior, which had already lead to three complaints from other audience members.
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Five minutes into the show’s second act, security officials received yet another complaint about the two individuals, claiming that they were being loud and that they were recording parts of the show, which is not permitted.
When they were asked to leave by a venue employee, they initially refused. “They told me they would not leave,” an usher is quoted as saying in the incident report. “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.”
Surveillance video from the performance appears to show two security guards approach Boebert and her male companion, who are sitting next to the aisle, inside the theater. After a brief exchange, they are escorted out of the theater.
At several points in the footage, Boebert appears to raise her finger at security as she is escorted out of the venue. According to the incident report, the two patrons resisted leaving the venue’s vestibule, saying “stuff like ‘do you know who I am,’ ‘I am on the board’ [and] ‘I will be contacting the mayor.’”
Police reportedly arrived on the scene and waited until Boebert and her companion left.
While the incident report does not name Boebert or her companion, the Congresswoman’s campaign office confirmed to the Denver Post that she was escorted out of the performance on Sunday night. Boebert’s campaign manager, Drew Sexton, denied that she was vaping during the show, but said she did use her cellphone to take a photo, which she did not know was prohibited.
“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 said in a statement.
Following the Denver Post’s report, Boebert posted a response on X (formerly known as Twitter): “It’s true, I did thoroughly enjoy the AMAZING Beetlejuice at the Buell Theatre and I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud!” she wrote. “Everyone should go see it if you get the chance this week and please let me know how it ends!
Sunday’s incident is far from Boebert’s first run-in with police. As the Denver Post reported in 2020, prior to being elected, the second-term Congresswoman was arrested four times between 2010 and 2015 for minor crimes including harassing a neighbor, getting into a verbal altercation with police, and failure to appear in court.
In March 2022, Boebert and fellow MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) reportedly got into a heated argument that witnesses feared would turn violent.
The following August, neighbors in Silt, Colorado, called 911 on Boebert’s husband Jayson who allegedly threatened them and destroyed their mailbox while drunk. In December 2022, Boebert’s teenage son called 911, claiming that Jayson was being abusive, though he later called back to recant his claims, with Boebert taking over the call to say that her son was not being abused. Boebert filed for divorce from Jayson in May.
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