Rep. Joyce Beatty accused the Kennedy Center of violating a federal injunction by locking its doors and surrounding the building with construction fencing on Wednesday.
The Ohio Democrat asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to hold an emergency hearing and require a senior Kennedy Center official to attend, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap.
Cooper’s May 29 preliminary injunction blocked the board from implementing its shutdown plans until it approved a closure consistent with his ruling and the court issued another order lifting or modifying the injunction.
The board voted Tuesday to close the center’s main building immediately, citing infrastructure failures and safety concerns. But Cooper has not dissolved or changed his injunction, Beatty’s attorneys argued.
“It seems Defendants may be violating the ‘clear and unambiguous order of the Court,’” they wrote.
Beatty’s attorneys initially contacted government lawyers Tuesday night after receiving reports that a closure announcement had played over the Kennedy Center’s loudspeakers. Justice Department attorney Brantley Mayers said it was the government’s understanding that someone had improperly triggered a fire alarm and that the closure announcement followed as a result, according to the filing.
But Bridget Kennedy-Bailey, a staffer at the law firm representing Beatty, said she arrived at the Kennedy Center shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday and found its doors locked. A security guard told her, “No, we’re closed,” according to a declaration attached to the motion.
Another security employee told Kennedy-Bailey that the order to keep the doors locked came from “higher-ups” but said he did not know when the center would reopen.
When Kennedy-Bailey returned about an hour later, black metal gates had been placed around the building, blocking its staircases and main walkway, she said. She also saw forklifts delivering additional barriers and traffic cones blocking the drop-off area. One forklift struck the building’s pillars several times, according to her declaration.
A Kennedy Center security employee attributed the fencing to construction and public safety concerns. Another employee said staff members could not enter without hard hats but was unsure whether construction had begun that day.
Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi said in the below social media post that longstanding infrastructure failures had left the building in disrepair and that safety concerns required its immediate closure.
Beatty’s lawyers acknowledged that Cooper’s order permits renovations and repairs without shutting down the building. But they warned that officials could make public access impossible and attempt to evade the injunction through a “fait accompli.”
The filing came one day after Cooper separately blocked the board from adding President Donald Trump’s name to the building’s facade or naming the center’s grounds after him. The defendants appealed that ruling Tuesday.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
