An artist set up a performance art exhibition at a storefront in Midtown Manhattan. Nothing out of then ordinary so far, but the name of the exhibition – "The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama" – prompted the local police to shut it down this morning and put the artist under arrest.

The Boston-native performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, wrote the controversial title referring to the two Democratic candidates for the White House in white stenciled letters on the front window arousing the interest of everyone passing by, including the Manhattan police.

NYPD officers and Secret Service agents shut down the exhibition at about 9.30 a.m., while Arboleda was taken into custody at the Midtown South police precinct, interviewed for about two hours and released without charge at about 11:30 a.m.

The 27-year-old artist said the exhibition he set up was about the "character assassination" of the candidates and emphasized the fact that he posed no danger to the two political figures. He added that the show didn’t feature any blood, guns or violence. The main idea of the exhibition was about words and how the media has “torn them apart.”
 
"It's my right as an artist to have that sign up," Arboleda said.

The Colombia-raised artists said he hired a lawyer and vowed to open his exhibit on Thursday.

On the other hand, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly labeled the title of the exhibition as totally inappropriate" and said the case is under investigation.

"We need more information as to what the purpose of it was. As I say, apparently he made some statements that he was referring to their reputations" the commissioner added.

The artist – he holds a master's degree in architecture and trained in photography, painting, fashion design and graphic design – was working on the final details of his exhibit while Senator Hillary Clinton was in New York and Obama, who recently clinched the party nominations, was on his way to the city.