Animal rights protesters taunted with meat when they crash Martinez BBQ festival

FILE -- Anita Krajnc (foreground) lay with 350 people of Direct Action Everywhere, spanning the full length of the Ferry Building, in what they describe as a "die-in" on Sunday, May 28 2017 in San Francisco, CA. The group appeared at an East Bay barbecue festival and disrupted the event. less FILE -- Anita Krajnc (foreground) lay with 350 people of Direct Action Everywhere, spanning the full length of the Ferry Building, in what they describe as a "die-in" on Sunday, May 28 2017 in San Francisco, ... more Photo: Carson Au / Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carson Au / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Animal rights protesters taunted with meat when they crash Martinez BBQ festival 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Attendees at a Bay Area barbecue festival were not happy when protesters with a Berkeley-based animal rights group crashed the party.

In a Facebook livestream of Saturday's event, a handful of Direct Action Everywhere members disrupted proceedings onstage at the King of the County BBQ Challenge & Music Festival in Martinez.

One protester somehow commandeered the microphone and began talking about animal cruelty, as other members of the group joined onstage with "It's not food, it's violence" signs held high.

That's when the boos and heckling began.

"Get off the stage!" yelled attendees.

The crowd of protesters were quickly escorted off the stage and began protesting a few feet away with megaphones, as festivalgoers began taunting the group.

Several flipped off the camera, and another person shared a tray of meat with the non-protester crowd members, some of whom seemed to savor the chance to eat while defying the protesters.

"We're not here to attack people or to tell them that they're bad people, we're just here to educate the public," a protester says into the camera.

Off-camera, the animal rights group alleged that one of their members was shoved to the ground by festival attendees and another was punched, but SFGATE's calls to the Easy Bay Regional Police Department were not immediately returned to confirm those incidents.

Direct Action Everywhere is an animal rights group known for its extreme style of protests. One activist recently covered herself in feces outside of a San Francisco Trader Joe's location, alleging the grocery store chain purchases eggs from a farm with cruel farming practices — a charge Trader Joe's denied. The group has also disrupted dinner service at Chez Panisse, attempted to stop a cattle drive at the Alameda County Fair and held weekly protests at a Berkeley butcher shop.