--- title: Metropolitan Opera: Powder Thrown May Have Been Human Ashes description: The Metropolitan Opera came to a halt on Saturday after an audience member threw a powdery substance into the pit canonical: https://time.com/4550684/powder-metropolitan-opera-ashes/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-30T15:57:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:30:36.401Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Police Say Powder Thrown at Metropolitan Opera May Have Been Human Ashes og:description: Police believe the powder was the ashes of the man's former mentor og:url: https://time.com/4550684/powder-metropolitan-opera-ashes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13830ccd926447b8/6988ac27bc6cfce3023df216/lincoln-center.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Opera-Powdered Substance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Police Say Powder Thrown at Metropolitan Opera May Have Been Human Ashes twitter:description: Police believe the powder was the ashes of the man's former mentor twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13830ccd926447b8/6988ac27bc6cfce3023df216/lincoln-center.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Police Say Powder Thrown at Metropolitan Opera May Have Been Human Ashes > Sponsored content. 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Oct 30, 2016 3:57 PM UTC The [Metropolitan Opera](http://time.com/3769430/see-the-worlds-most-impressive-opera-houses/) came to a halt on Saturday after an audience member threw a powdery substance—which police believe was cremated human ashes—into the pit during intermission. Police identified the audience member on Saturday night through video surveillance footage and interviews with witnesses, and said the powder may have been the ashes of the man’s former mentor. John J. Miller, deputy police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism for the New York Police Department, told reporters the unnamed man does not live in New York and that police were attempting to contact him. According to police, the man told other patrons he was there specifically to toss the ashes. Miller said throwing the ashes may have broken the city’s health code, but that there was no criminal intent. The Saturday afternoon [performance](http://time.com/3528065/metropolitan-opera-house-giluliani-klinghoffer-john-adams-protests/) of “Guillaume Tell” as well as that night’s performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri” were cancelled as a safety precaution. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4550684/powder-metropolitan-opera-ashes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4550684/powder-metropolitan-opera-ashes/"},"headline":"Police Say Powder Thrown at Metropolitan Opera May Have Been Human Ashes","datePublished":"2016-10-30T15:57:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:30:36.401Z","description":"Police believe the powder was the ashes of the man's former mentor","url":"https://time.com/4550684/powder-metropolitan-opera-ashes/","keywords":["New York"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13830ccd926447b8/6988ac27bc6cfce3023df216/lincoln-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13830ccd926447b8/6988ac27bc6cfce3023df216/lincoln-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Opera-Powdered Substance","caption":"FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2014, file photo, pedestrians make their way in front of the Metropolitan Opera house at New York's Lincoln Center. 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