A group of art activists was physically and verbally assaulted by a group identifying themselves as Trump supporters on Saturday night, Hyperallergic reports. The attack, on the evening of Saturday 17 December, happened as the group was leaving the closing party of the ‘Decolonize This Place’ residency at nonprofit Artists Space, as the group chanted slogans including ‘Free Palestine’, ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘We’re Queer, We’re Here, We’re Fabulous, Don’t Fuck With Us’. When asked if they reported the attack, Michael Basillas, one of the victims, said ‘We didn’t file a police report because we don’t trust the police’.
In response to the attack, a rally was organised on Monday night at Artists Space by New York Shut It Down, a group of activists associated with Black Lives Matter, to voice their ‘opposition to the white supremacy, homophobia, and hatred that this incident embodied’.
21 December 2016
