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Two Direct
Action Everywhere (DXE) activists were reportedly arrested ‘for asking
questions’ at a Whole Foods Market early this year.
Video
Partially captured
on video – and shared to YouTube this week – the footage of the incident has
since had over 400,000 views.
The video
shows DXE Co-founder and former Law Professor Wayne Hsiung – who has also faced felony charges for his activism – asking employees questions about the living
conditions of animals prior to slaughter.
In
response, a worker told Hsiung he was ‘being very disruptive’, and the police were called.
Arrests and
threats
According
to DWE’s Matt Johnson, both Hsiung and a the 16-year-old girl who was filming
were arrested and temporarily jailed.
He told
PBN: “A senior lawyer from WF corporate HQ sent a threatening letter to the
teen falsely accusing her of ‘abusive conduct’.”
The organization says she was also threatened with ‘removal into foster care’.
No basis
Fortunately for the teen and her family, the threats never came to fruition.
Johnson said: “Thankfully,
the guardian-ad-litem appointed by the court moved to have her own appointment
terminated on the grounds that the prosecutor’s action had no basis.
“But it
sent the teen and her family into a panic.”
‘Disgraceful’
DXE
believes that this a case of ‘a large corporation abusing the legal process to
intimidate nonviolent activists’ – a claim backed up by Civil Rights Attorney
David Lane.
After
reviewing the case, Lane said: “Corporate America has a long, disgraceful
history of attempting to stifle free speech and this yet another example of
that fact.
“It is
especially concerning when corporations use their power and money to corrupt
the tools of our government, such as legislatures and the police, to assist
them in their attempts to intimidate peaceful protestors into silence.”
