'Aggressive' animal rights activists removed by police after storming Jamie Oliver restaurant

Bonnie Christian30 March 2019

Animal rights activists who descended on a Jamie Oliver restaurant were removed by police for being “aggressive” towards diners and “overstepping the mark.”

Around 25 Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) protesters barged into the Brighton Jamie’s Italian restaurant holding signs, flowers and a fake piglet on a plate as people ate their dinner.

One protester made a speech saying: “We would like everyone to think about who they are eating.

“The way that animal flesh is presented and advertised makes it easy to forget they were once even an animal, let alone that they were a thinking, feeling individual."

Police said that armed police attended the scene on Friday night but they were not involved and no firearms were drawn.

Police were called to remove the protesters on Friday evening.
DxE Brighton

Others held signs with photos of animals and the words “I want to live,” “'It's not food, it's violence!” and '"Humane' slaughter is a lie”.

Around 15 minutes after the protesters entered the restaurant police arrived to remove them.

DxE claimed in a statement that police “shoved someone to the ground and threatened arrest.”

Protesters held signs while others made speeches while patrons ate dinner.
DxE Brighton

A spokesman for Sussex Police said most of the protesters were outside the restaurant when they arrived.

“It was allegedly a peaceful process,” he said.

“There were a couple inside that were removed and they continued the protest outside.

Police said many of the protesters remained outside the restaurant after being asked to leave.
DxE Brighton

“They were quite aggressive to customers while they were trying to eat dinner.

“They were merely protesters that overstepped the mark slightly, a bit in your face to patrons in the establishment that we don’t take too kindly to.”

He added that no arrests were made.

Around 25 protesters stormed the Jamie's Italian restaurant before being removed by police.
DxE Brighton

A DxE spokeswoman said some customers showed support of the protest while others “got violent”

“One customer shoved an activist and grabbed her bum then attacked another activist who intervened.”

The police spokesman said the protesters inside the restaurant “willingly left” when asked and “everyone was happy.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in