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A 13-year-old PETA activist has been arrested for allegedly beating a police officer during a protest at a Florida Starbucks.
The child, identified only as “Evan” because of his age, was protesting the extra charge for plant-based “milk.”
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 at a sit-in at the Starbucks in New Independence and Hamlin when police asked them to leave — and dramatic video reveals that Evan was complying by collecting 'Starbucks: Stop Vegan Upcharge' signs when officers grabbed him, pushed him upside down on a table and handcuffed him while his pregnant mother, Shannon Blair, pleaded. Of, 'Don't touch my child! What are you doing to my child?'
“Starbucks management asked the protesters to remove the encroachment because they refused to leave the store, which is private property, and they wanted to press charges,” the Orange County Sheriff's Office told Fox Business. “Deputies made loud verbal announcements, asking protesters to leave, and most of them immediately left.”
In a statement to the outlet, Starbucks said the protesters were disrupting operations.
A Starbucks spokesperson said, “We respect our customers' rights to express their opinions respectfully, as long as it does not interfere with our store operations.”
Shannon Blair compared her son's arrest to the situation with cows on a dairy farm.
Blair said, “Watching my son be snatched away from me, restrained and taken away gave me a glimpse of the horrors of the dairy industry, which takes calves from their crying mothers so they can milk them.” Can sell.” “My family was just asking Starbucks to stop punishing customers for making better choices. There was no reason for violence.”
Evan has been charged with battery and trespassing.
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