(Minghui.org) Before Shen Yun Performing Art’s opening show at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington D.C. on February 20, 2025, the theater received bomb threats and the building had to be evacuated. Texas Congressman Lance Gooden and former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn published statements condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s threats and stressed that the regime’s efforts to sabotage the show will not succeed.

Texas congressman Lance Gooden (left) and former North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn (right) published statements condemning the CCP’s bomb threats targeting Shen Yun performances.

On February 21, 2025, Texas congressman Lance Gooden posted a comment on X condemning the CCP’s bomb threats against Shen Yun and called them shameless.

In his post on his X account on February 21, Texas congressman Lance Gooden wrote: “The Chinese Communist Party has a shameless history of targeting Shen Yun with bomb threats globally.

“Yesterday’s baseless bomb threat at the Kennedy Center was yet another attempt to intimidate.

“CCP sabotage efforts will not prevail.

“Shen Yun will continue to showcase authentic Chinese culture free from communist influence!”

On February 22, former North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn published a post on X censuring the CCP’s efforts to target Shen Yun.

Former North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn published a post on his X account on February 22. He wrote: “The CCP is ramping up efforts to target Chinese Dissidents in America, like Shen Yun.

“The American people will not cower in the face of threats to freedom.”

The performance on February 20, 2025 was the first of Shen Yun’s 12 shows at the Kennedy Center this year. That afternoon, Washington D.C. police received a phone call claiming that a bomb had been placed in the Kennedy Center. Police quickly investigated but did not find any bombs on site. At 2 p.m they issued an all clear and the show was held as scheduled.

The arts group held a press conference on February 21 in response to the bomb threat incident. Emcee Leeshai Lemish called on the U.S. government to “investigate this thoroughly, to really try to find out who is behind this.”

According to a Washington Post report on February 20, Kennedy Center staff were forced to evacuate for several hours late on Thursday morning after receiving the bomb threat. They were later allowed to return to the building. A spokesperson for the venue said the threats were aimed at Shen Yun performances at the theater. The article mentioned that according to a statement from Shen Yun Performing Arts on Thursday, this was the latest in a string of bomb threats targeting their performances.

A report by NBC on February 20 said extra security would be on hand for upcoming performances by Shen Yun at the Kennedy Center after the bomb threat. The report said according to the spokesperson for the group, a threatening email was received claiming a bomb had been placed in the theater and would be detonated should Shen Yun be allowed to perform. However, in the end, nothing was found.

The NBC report quoted a spokesperson for Shen Yun: “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.

“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.” 

According to a report by ABC7 on February 20, Washington DC police arrived at the Kennedy Center at 10:45 a.m. after the venue received bomb threats targeting Shen Yun performances that were to be held soon. Emcee Leeshai Lemish said evacuees were not given much information. They only knew that the threats were targeted at upcoming Shen Yun shows. He said they stood in the cold for three hours and were only allowed to go back into the theater around 2 p.m. Despite receiving the disturbing threats, Shen Yun’s performance at the center went on as planned on Thursday night.

The ABC7 report also mentioned that in a statement from Shen Yun to the news station, the performing arts company has received 50 such threats in the past three months. In the statement, Shen Yun performance organizers said the CCP was responsible for the bomb threats. They also said these were attempts to sabotage the shows and the performances that display, “China before communism.”

A Fox5 story also reported on the Kennedy Center bomb threats on February 22. Shen Yun Performing Arts said this is part of the tactics used by the CCP over the past 18 years to stop Shen Yun shows. The group claimed that during their tours, theaters were they were scheduled to perform have received dozens of death threats and bomb threats.

Before these bomb threats were received during Shen Yun’s current global tour, several Shen Yun performers who are originally from China were threatened by the CCP. The Fox5 report quoted Mr. Lemish: “In the past, we were individuals threatened by the CCP. Most of our performers and their family members are from China. Their families in China have been harassed. Some were detained. This is a constant issue for our members. They are constantly worried about their families in China.”