VMAs 2019: Newark water crisis protestors attempt to storm awards show

Protestors of the Newark water crisis made their voices heard as the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards brought increased attention to the area while taking place at the Prudential Center.

Ahead of the awards show, which featured appearances from the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Missy Elliott, activists took to the street to call for action to bring clean water for residents of the New Jersey city amid an ongoing crisis in which outdated lead pipes are contaminating water for thousands of people.

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The ceremony followed an announcement that the city would be getting a $120 million loan that will allow the city to expedite the process of fixing the problem.

"There are about 18,000 privately owned lead service lines within the city that need to be replaced to fix the issue, which was expected to take 8 to 10 years," CNN reported. "The new funding will allow the city to fix these lines in 24-30 months instead."

Video emerged prior to the VMAs of protestors with signs that said things like "CLEAN WATER FOR NEWARK" and "GET THE LEAD OUT" as police blocked them from getting closer to the Prudential Center.

On social media, users used the highly-monitored #VMAs hashtag to also call attention to the crisis.

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