A 13-year-old PETA activist has been arrested for allegedly hitting a police officer during a protest at a Florida Starbucks.
The child, identified only as “Evan” due to his age, was protesting the extra charges for plant-based “milks.”
In a video of the incident, the young teen can be seen swinging at the officer.
Evan’s mother’s boyfriend, Wesley Hucker, was also arrested for trespassing.
In a press release about the situation, PETA claimed, “Evan and his family were joining other PETA members in a sit-in at the Starbucks at New Independence and Hamlin when police asked them to leave—and dramatic video shows that Evan was complying by gathering up ‘Starbucks: Stop Vegan Upcharge’ signs when officers grabbed him, shoved him face-down onto a table, and handcuffed him while his pregnant mother, Shannon Blair, pleaded, ‘Don’t touch my child! What are you doing to my child?’”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office told Fox Business, “Starbucks management asked that the protesters be trespassed after they refused to leave the store, which is private property, and they wanted to press charges. Deputies gave loud verbal announcements, asking the protesters to leave, and most of them cleared out immediately.”
In a statement to the outlet, Starbucks said the protesters were disrupting operations.
“We respect our customers’ rights to respectfully voice their opinions so long as it does not disrupt our store operations,” a Starbucks spokesperson said.
Shannon Blair compared her son’s arrest to what cows go through at a dairy farm.
“Watching as my son was torn away from me, restrained, and hauled away gave me a glimpse into the horrors of the dairy industry, which takes calves from their crying mothers so that it can sell off their milk,” said Blair. “My family was simply asking Starbucks to stop penalizing customers for choosing a kinder option. There was no reason for violence.”
Evan has been charged with battery and trespassing.
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