Robin Bell
– Artist’s Website –
Artist Projects Image of Jeff Sessions as Klansman on Department of Justice
Robin Bell lit up the DOJ and FBI façades with phrases such as “#RefusaltoRecuse” and comically sinister portraits of members of the Trump administration.
Claire Voon
3 days ago
An image of Jeff Sessions dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan was one of many projections to light up façades in Washington, DC, late last night. The guerrilla display, which targeted the Department of Justice and FBI buildings, was enacted by local artist and activist Robin Bell, who earlier this week flashed anti-Trump messages referencing the emoluments clause on the nearby Trump International Hotel.
Light projections by Robin Bell on the FBI building
This time, Bell focused on the investigations into the White House’s Russia connections and the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey, projecting such phrases as “#RefusaltoRecuse” and “#WeNeedToSeeTheMemo.” The former refers to allegations that Sessions may have broken his pledge to recuse himself from matters related to Russia; the latter, to a document written by Comey that records a discussion with Trump about former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Bell also flashed giant photos of Sessions photoshopped with demon-like eyes, the demands “#SessionsMustGo” and “#FireSessions,” and the line “I thought the KKK was OK until I learned that they smoked pot” — a paraphrase of one of the Attorney General’s most infamous quips.
Bell cast his spotlight on other members of Trump’s circle as well, projecting comically sinister portraits of Governor Nikki Haley, EPA head Scott Pruitt, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Trump advisor Linda McMahon, among others. One message that he flashed on the Department of Justice, however, was more sobering: a stark image of a man behind bars, accompanied by the words, “1/3 of black males can’t vote because of the war on drugs.”
Bell’s one-man protest, which lasted about an hour, was just the latest in a string of public, anti-Trump projections he’s organized since the November election. On the president’s 100th day, he highlighted Trump’s refusal to acknowledge climate change outside a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And Trump International Hotel previously served as one of Bell’s canvases: last year, he emblazoned the words “Experts Agree: Trump is a Pig” over its arched entryway.