A large panel fell seemingly dozens of feet from above onto the stage during a rehearsal for a performance at an event for President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250, according to video posted by attorney Aaron Parnas.
“The stage is falling apart at the rehearsal for Freedom 250’s July 4th celebration,” Parnas wrote.
After the panel fell, someone can be heard on the video saying, “I was waiting for something like that to happen.”
Critics blasted the administration while others issued warnings.
“This is incredibly dangerous stuff,” wrote journalist Ryan Grim. “Trump cutting safety corners with stage building is the kind of thing somebody can genuinely be prosecuted for if someone dies, which is not uncommon if you slap it together like this. This equipment is deadly when falling from those heights.”
“Literally a miracle no one was hurt here,” noted journalist Philip Lewis.
“In all seriousness, that actually looks really dangerous for the performers. It’s scary how unsafe this all seems,” observed journalist Pablo Manríquez.
“The sheer incompetence of this administration is really rather astonishing. Everything these people touch is shoddily done. This era is replete with evidence that experience and professionalism actually matter,” wrote author Jennifer Erin Valent.
“If there was ever a metaphor for how historians will look back at Trump’s presidency at this moment in time, it’s this,” wrote health care consultant and National Organization for Women vice president Melanie D’Arrigo.
“The Freedom 250 rehearsal stage falling apart is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration,” The Lincoln Project commented.
“Glad everyone’s ok — it’s also hard to imagine a better metaphor for the current state of [America] than this,” wrote the progressive media outlet The Tennessee Holler.
“Trump’s state fair is *literally* falling apart,” remarked liberal political commentator Harry Sisson.
One commenter added, “Those performers are incredibly lucky. That falling piece of debris looked heavy, sharp and came down at incredible speed.”
Trump’s Freedom 250 July 4th event is also besieged by a massive heat wave enveloping part of the country.
“U.S. Capitol Police have already restricted Thursday night’s rehearsal for ‘A Capitol Fourth Concert’ to essential personnel, posting on X that they came to the decision after consulting with the Capitol’s Office of the Attending Physician,” The New Republic reported.
“For safety reasons, the public will not be able to attend tonight’s rehearsal concert,” the Capitol Police’s post read. “Everyone is sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. The National Weather Service is forecasting an extreme heat watch with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.”