16 Arrested for Showing Portraits of People Killed by ICE in DC Senate Building
Italian artist Gianluca Costantini’s hand-drawn portrait series depicting individuals killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement became the centerpiece of a protest action at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on August 5, 2026. Sixteen Women’s March activists were arrested after staging a die-in while displaying banners featuring Costantini’s illustrations of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and seven others, presented as tombstones with names and death dates marked ‘Killed by I.C.E.’ The banners were seized and crumpled by Capitol Police during the action. Costantini, known for activist collaborations with Amnesty International and Words Without Borders, frames his work as a counter to numerical abstraction, emphasizing individual dignity and remembrance. Additional banners bearing aggregate victim counts were dropped from upper balconies, with protest organizers amending figures in red paint as casualty documentation expanded.
Original article published on Hyperallergic — AI-generated summary. Visit the website to read the full article at the source. Image via Hyperallergic.
