{"id":23875,"date":"2022-07-24T06:07:44","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T06:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/sesame-place-video-draws-about-two-dozen-protesters-two-arrested\/"},"modified":"2022-07-24T06:07:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T06:07:44","slug":"sesame-place-video-draws-about-two-dozen-protesters-two-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/sesame-place-video-draws-about-two-dozen-protesters-two-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"Sesame Place video draws about two dozen protesters;  two arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - Video: NAACP members speak out about Sesame Place\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Two New Jersey men were arrested during a roughly three-hour protest outside Sesame Place late Saturday afternoon, the latest show of public support for a New York woman whose cell phone video of a park employee in a character costume apparently rejecting two Black girls went viral .<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The protest was the first at the popular theme park since the July 16 incident where Brooklyn resident Jodi Brown alleges a park employee dressed in a &#8220;Rosita&#8221; costume rejected hug requests from her 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old niece, who are Black, during a character parade, but interacted with other white guests.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Calls went out on social media Friday for protesters to gather at the park at noon Saturday.  However, only two people, representing the Delaware NAACP, showed up at that time.  They were outnumbered by police and media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Around 2:30 pm, about two dozen protesters arrived and set up at the crosswalk leading to the front entrance of Sesame Place on North Buckstown Road, according to a press release from Middletown police.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The park had prearranged a staging area for the protesters near the park entrance with cold water available, but protesters refused to gather there, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The two unidentified New Jersey men who were part of the protest then repeatedly stepped into moving traffic on North Buckstown Road in an attempt to obstruct traffic, causing vehicles to swerve and stop to avoid them.  They also attempted to block the crosswalk where park guests were crossing to get into the park, police said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:440px\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/23\/NBCC\/9555ed12-2d6f-4aa2-9d6b-fd6fe8f2d137-COT_sesame-5.jpg?ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/23\/NBCC\/9555ed12-2d6f-4aa2-9d6b-fd6fe8f2d137-COT_sesame-5.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=880&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Park goers head into Sesame Place in Middletown Township on Saturday, July 23, 2022.\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The men allegedly refused repeated police officer requests that they not block the crosswalk and traffic, but they refused to stop, police said.  The men also were yelling expletives in front of children and telling police they would not stop attempting to block traffic, the release said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">The latest developments with Sesame snub<\/strong>Attorneys for mom behind Sesame Place video call for park owners to &#8216;do the right thing&#8217;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:580px\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/22\/NBCC\/bc63c56d-e09d-4c73-8333-2ac1fe78029f-IMG_3815.jpg?ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/22\/NBCC\/bc63c56d-e09d-4c73-8333-2ac1fe78029f-IMG_3815.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=1160&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot of Jodi Brown, of Brooklyn, NY, video showing her daughter and niece moments before she says they were snubbed by the &quot;Rosita&quot; character at Sesame Place in Middletown, Pa\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Middletown police did not provide names of the men arrested, but described them as a 50-year-old man from Newark and a 46-year-old man from Camden.  They were charged with summary offenses for obstruction of highways and disorderly conduct and released, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">After the arrests, police said the remaining protesters continued a peaceful demonstration for several hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">A nearly four-minute expletive-filled video showing protesters in the crosswalk outside the park entrance was livestreamed on social media.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The video shows the legs of guests in the crosswalk and a confrontation with Middletown police officers, but a minute into the video the camera lens is blocked.  Voices can be heard chanting &#8220;No justice, no peace,&#8221; and yelling derogatory comments toward police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The original, 9-second video capturing the apparent snub on July 16 has been viewed more than 880,000 times on social media since it was posted and generated a public outcry and calls for a boycott of the park.  It also prompted other Black parents to post videos they say show costumed characters at the park ignoring their children but interacting with children of other races.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">Parents allege characters ignored kids<\/strong>More videos emerge showing apparent racial snubs of children at Sesame Place<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">York dad says &#8220;Elmo&#8221; dismissed daughter<\/strong>York father joins chorus of parents who say Sesame Place characters snub Black children<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">Initial coverage:<\/strong>Sesame Place blames Rosita costume issues for snub that mom calls racist in viral video<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The park and its owner and operator, SeaWorld Parks &#038; Entertainment, have faced widespread criticism for what some groups have described as its insensitive handling of Brown&#8217;s accusations.  The Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday issued a statement requesting a meeting with the president of Sesame Place to discuss changes, plans of action and training the park plans to implement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Also, attorneys representing Brown announced at news conference that they have been in discussions with SeaWorld executives about changes to its operations to prevent future incidents.  Brown and her supporters are also demanding the park terminate the employee who snubbed the girls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In public statements, Sesame Place has repeatedly apologized to the Brown family, called the incident &#8220;unacceptable&#8221; and pledged to review its practices and polices and implement mandatory bias training for all employees.  It has not stated whether it has disciplined the employee, who it said was &#8220;devastated&#8221; to find out what happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The company has also offered to meet in-person with Brown and her attorneys to deliver a personal apology and an \u201cacknowledgment that we are holding ourselves accountable for what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__lp gnt_em_cp\" aria-label=\"Support local journalism\" data-c-cta=\"STAY CONNECTED\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two New Jersey men were arrested during a roughly three-hour protest outside Sesame Place late Saturday afternoon, the latest show of public support for a New York woman whose cell phone video of a park employee in a character costume apparently rejecting two Black girls went viral . The protest was the first at the &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/sesame-place-video-draws-about-two-dozen-protesters-two-arrested\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sesame Place video draws about two dozen protesters;  two arrested<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25008,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/1-week-after-viral-video-civil-rights-activists-protest-at-theme-park-to-demand-change-cbs-philly\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":0},"title":"1 Week After Viral Video, Civil Rights Activists Protest At Theme Park To Demand Change \u2013 CBS Philly","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LANGHORNE, Pa. (CBS) \u2014 Two activists were arrested outside Sesame Place in Langhorne Saturday afternoon. Police say the two protesters were taken into custody for disorderly conduct after several warnings for blocking the sidewalk and street.The two men were among a crowd of civil rights activists, including several local Black\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34636,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/disney-worlds-woody-from-toy-story-goes-out-of-his-way-to-greet-black-kids\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":1},"title":"Disney World&#8217;s Woody from Toy Story goes out of his way to greet black kids","date":"August 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Woody and Jessie from Toy Story went out of their way to greet black kids at Disney World after controversies over costume mascots from Sesame Place and Chuck E. Cheese were accused of racism over claims that they 'ignored' them. A father-of-two who brought his children to the Magic Kingdom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"The mascot for a Chuck E. Cheese location in New Jersey has become the latest mascot to be accused of racism","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/08\/02\/07\/60968109-11071671-The_mascot_for_a_Chuck_E_Cheese_location_in_New_Jersey_has_becom-m-24_1659421236594.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23098,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/footage-contradicts-parks-account-lawyer-says\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":2},"title":"Footage &#8216;contradicts&#8217; park&#8217;s account, lawyer says","date":"July 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The attorney for a New York mother claiming her daughter and niece were intentionally ignored by a Sesame Place character because they're Black has released a video they say contradicts the Middletown theme park's version of what occurred.In the 31-second video of the July 16 parade, attorney B'Ivory LaMarr, who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28049,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/black-family-sues-sesame-place-alleging-discrimination\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":3},"title":"Black family sues Sesame Place, alleging discrimination","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month. The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Sesame Place","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/sesame-place.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21489,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/family-calls-for-sesame-place-to-fire-rosita-performer-new-apology\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":4},"title":"Family calls for Sesame Place to fire Rosita performer, new apology","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A viral video of the Rosita character at Sesame Place visibly dismissing two Black girls has sparked outrage online.The family is now calling on the theme park to fire the costumed performer, according to a press conference with their attorney held on Wednesday.No lawsuits has been filed yet, but \"all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20486,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/family-demands-sesame-place-do-more-amid-racism-claims-wants-worker-fired\/","url_meta":{"origin":23875,"position":5},"title":"Family demands Sesame Place do more amid racism claims, wants worker fired","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"NEW YORK CITY (WPVI) -- The families of two young Black girls at the center of a viral video recorded at Sesame Place in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last weekend have hired a lawyer and demand further action from the theme park after they say the children were snubbed by a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/23\/NBCC\/d18870bf-bee5-45e8-b1b6-a37e55775653-COT_sesame-1.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}