Posted by she_xing in Activism, Animal Rights, Law

I am a white guy from a middle-class family. I am also a straight-edge, abolitionist vegan and an animal rights activist. On Sunday afternoon (21 April), I had the opportunity to see why “normal people” so often think of us as disagreeable, contrarian, anti-social, even crazy.

I’ve been involved in multiple protests over the past few years and have even organised one myself. As a result of being so closely connected to the activity, it’s not always easy to be entirely objective about it and be aware of how it might be perceived by outsiders. What happened this weekend, was that I found out about the protest being discussed – an anti-circus protest directed at Brian Boswell’s circus in Centurion – relatively shortly before it was due to happen. I decided to go along though, without knowing who arranged it or what the strategy was. And wow, was it a circus of its own…

It was surprising for me that I didn’t know about this protest, considering how involved I’ve always been in the scene. The first I heard of it, was when it somehow popped up on my Twitter time-line from someone named “Charlotte Clark” whom I had never heard of, but was highly active in promoting the protest. She claimed that 600 people were confirmed to take part. That’s what really made me pay attention, because if this were true, to the best of my knowledge, it could very well be the largest animal rights or at least anti-circus protest of its kind in the history of South Africa. Charlotte was being extremely vociferous (both she and her tweet about the “CURCUS” started trending on Twitter in South Africa), even though she stated multiple times that she was not the organiser of the event, merely a supporter. Upon asking who the organisers of the event were, I was informed that it was Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC ). This gave me the impression of a fully legitimate protest, as BWC is a well-respected organisation that does things by the book. It did increase my curiosity as to why I didn’t know about it though, since I’m on BWC’s mailing list (it turned out that BWC didn’t arrange the protest, although some members apparently took part). I asked where the meet-up location was for the pre-protest briefing and was only given the address where the protest would be happening.

Charlotte Clark, @chox138 is now trending in South Africa trendsmap.com/za

— Trendsmap SthAfrica (@TrendsSthAfrica) April 21, 2013

BY THE WAY “CURCUS”- my misspelled word is trending haha #BOSWELLCIRCUS

— Charlotte Clark (@chox138) April 21, 2013

I AM NOT THE ORGANISER BUT A SUPPORTER OF THIS #BOSWELL PROTEST.if you have permit queries etc take it up with the organizers THANK YOU.

— Charlotte Clark (@chox138) April 21, 2013

As someone who has arranged a protest of this nature before (albeit on a much smaller scale), I think it critical to have a pre-protest briefing. There’s a lot of things people need to be aware of and sometimes need to be reminded of. Very often, there are a lot of new people who have never been involved in a protest – they need to be informed and reassured. Emotions can run very high, and with the very real possibility of police activity, adrenalin and stress can increase significantly as well. There are critical things protesters need to be aware of. Who are the organisers of the protest? Who are the people to go to in case of any sort of emergency? What are your rights as a protester? What should you do if the police start hassling you? Equally important, is to explain to protesters what sort of conduct is expected of them. Generally, this would include being friendly to motorists, the police and even employees of the circus and its patrons.

Basically, none of this happened. To add oil to the fire, it turned out that this protest was in fact, an illegal one. That fact alone makes all the above so much more important. I’m not sure how many people participating in this protest fully realised that they were involved in illegal action and what the implications were. Were people aware that they actually risked arrest doing this?

@malandela @k9_unit_gp @chox138 As much as this emotive issue must be protested, it MUST be done legally. No authorisation=illegal gathering — Justice Project SA (@JPSAorg) April 21, 2013

Let me reiterate – I have no problem with the fact that people were protesting the circus – it is something I also feel very strongly about. I don’t really even have a problem with the fact that they decided to go ahead with it, even though permission was not explicitly granted – if someone feels strongly enough about something that they would openly risk getting arrested for speaking out against it, that’s their choice and something I generally commend. But beyond that, there were some very problematic issues with almost everything else that happened on Sunday.

The action, I eventually discovered, was not arranged by Beauty Without Cruelty, but by an organisation called “Activists for Animals Africa” – another group I’d not heard of before. After some digging around, I discovered that Activists for Animals Africa, or AAA, was the organisation formerly known as the People for the Liberation of Animals (PLA… People’s Liberation Army, anyone…? Somewhat ambiguous acronym – probably why they changed it, even though their Facebook page is still called People for the Liberation of Animals). Even back when they were still officially the PLA, they were rather notorious among my friends and I for having illegal protests and for attracting somewhat unsavoury members (in terms of embodying the principles of animal rights). Incidentally, AAA’s logo is a knuckleduster in the shape of a paw print – fantastic conceptual design, but it doesn’t exactly express “peace” and “non-violence”, does it?

One of the very first things I noticed when I arrived and as the procession was just starting to move, was that there were significantly fewer than 600 people, but indeed many more than I had expected to find there (as I figured out sometime between finding out and going, that the “600 confirmed” were Facebook responses, hardly ever an accurate measure). Then, as I merged with the crowd, the next thing I noticed was that there were two people among the protesters who had dogs with them. I immediately felt somewhat distressed. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why would you bring a dog here?” This was already a stressful environment to be in, even for adult humans – a crowd of probably around a 100 people milling about, constantly shouting, alternating people walking around with a megaphone… Add to that the fact that this protest eventually lasted far over an hour, and I think the irresponsibility becomes clear. One of the dogs was visibly stressed.

It begs the question whether these people even fully understand the fundamental principles they were protesting for. If you’re arguing that animals should not be used in circuses for human entertainment, because of the way they are treated and because it is a stressful and scary experience for them, why on Earth are you subjecting an animal that you would claim to love, to an arguably similar experience? Do you think it’s cute to have an animal at a protest? I suspect you might be slightly misunderstanding the issue…

The next thing I noticed, was that there were children in the crowd too. Some looked too young to be in school yet – there was even a woman with a baby in a stroller. The level of recklessness just boggled my mind. Even a legal protest can be a dubious place for children to be, but an illegal one? Considering that it was an illegal gathering, the chances that the police could turn bad on the protesters were increased. There was at least one incident where the police did threaten the use of tear gas and water canons if the crowd consistently refused to go when instructed. I suspect it was merely a threat to get people to disperse, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it was really increasing the tension and becoming a real risk. It is shocking that there are parents who are willing to subject their children to this. It doesn’t matter what your cause is, it doesn’t matter what lengths you’re willing to go to for that cause – you don’t have the right to submit your under-age child to that.

I then noticed that whoever had the megaphone at the time used it not only to amplify their chants, but also to try to direct and control the protesters. The only problem was that it was virtually impossible to hear what was being said if you were at the back of the crowd, so there was no real control.

The throng started moving across to the intersection from where they were. I could only assume that the muffled sounds coming from the megaphone indicated that the police had informed them they had to move off the property. The crowd ended up on the other side of the road from the circus, but continued their protest.

It was at this point then, that I noticed another stereotypical flaw – protesters shouting obscenities at patrons. Some people were coming past, actually heading to the circus with their children and some of the protesters thought it appropriate to swear at them and call them “evil” and “scum”… Well done, activists! We all know what wonders attacking someone personally can do for furthering one’s cause… This is also why I’ve always had an enormous problem with PETA’s “flour-bombing” and “paint-throwing” tactics used on people who wear fur (it seems even they are rethinking these strategies…). It is absurd to think that everyone has already thought of the lives circus animals lead and the ethical concerns involved with the circus – most people simply don’t consider such things and that doesn’t make them evil. At best, it makes them unaware, at worst ignorant and lazy. Thus, personally attacking (verbally, in this case) such people just hurts your cause, it definitely doesn’t promote it. Causing people bewilderment will hardly give them food for thought. Clark herself continued propagating this and advocating violence against circus patrons on Monday morning (and don’t even get me started on suburban, white girls’ misappropriation of “karma” into their own vindictive twist on Calvinist guilt and punishment).

SHAME ON #BoswellCircus.Any scum that buy tickets should be beaten like the elephants are! Can’t wait 2C your karma. twitter.com/chox138/status… — Charlotte Clark (@chox138) April 22, 2013

Still, there was more silliness – the chants. I understand that these mostly get made up on the spot and are not necessarily planned in advance, but “Stop using animals, use only plants”? At an anti-circus protest? I realise this is a reference to living a vegan lifestyle, but I don’t think abstraction and symbolism work particularly well in six-word protest slogans targeting something very specific. Use only plants? In a circus? If you’re not vegan, I’m sure that this was completely lost on you. (EDIT: see SunshineYum’s comment below for the explanation of this edit)

But the one that really got me, was “Free our animals now!” Again, I recognise that “now” was used figuratively, as letting two elephants and a lion or two loose in the city right at that very point is hardly what anyone would want. But “our animals”…? Let me try to sum up animal rights as briefly as I can: The philosophy of animal rights puts forth the notion that animals are not a means to an end, but an end in themselves. They are not ours to use in any way, but should be allowed freedom to live their lives in the natural way they would without human interference.

So calling them “our” animals is truly missing the point entirely. They are nobody’s animals, they are their own animals – that’s the point; that’s why they should be free, and that’s what you’re supposedly fighting for.

Then, things got really ugly. One of the protesters actually kicked a Boswell employee (initial reports stated incorrectly that Brian Boswell himself had been kicked). Supposedly, the employee was making lewd gestures at the women in the crowd (the vast majority of this procession was female, by the way). I definitely do not condone such primitive and vile acts as making sexually suggestive gestures at women to show your disdain for them, but I certainly also cannot condone physically assaulting someone for doing so. This is where the stability of protesters gets called into question.

Anyone working for Boswell would probably feel at least somewhat threatened by a protest of this nature, even if not directly. The circus is their livelihood, after all. If you so vehemently go up against someone’s livelihood and beliefs, it has to be expected that they will push back. If you’re going to go off the rails this easily at someone who opposes your protest, you really should be restrained. To repeat – this was an illegal gathering – Boswell had more rights in this matter than the protesters (which is why the police were on his side of the fence – he was the one facing a threat, not the protesters). Generally, where there had been a police presence at these kinds of protests in the past, I always had the distinct impression that they were there for everyone’s protection and benefit and to make sure that nobody got hurt. This time around, they were clearly there to make sure that the protesters didn’t overstep the line and to protect Brian Boswell and his circus (he wasn’t breaking the law…). Additionally, at the very moment that a protester went and assaulted someone, this protest went from being a peaceful one, to being a violent one.

The assailant was arrested, and rightfully so. Clark immediately tweeted about the “illegal” nature of the arrest – how could a male officer arrest a female assailant? It was right about then that I started realising how ridiculous and ill-informed this whole affair really was. She defended the woman in question, even going as far as calling her a “HERO” – for assaulting someone else…

IT WAS NOT BRIAN BOSWELL WHO WAS KICKED. SHE IS A HERO! @peta#BoswellProtest

— Charlotte Clark (@chox138) April 21, 2013

Fortunately, I was not the only one who thought this turn of events to be the final straw. Celebrity vegan and ex-5FM DJ, Grant Nash, who had also been at the protest, decided to withdraw at this point, and abandoned the proceedings.

Unfortunately one of the protesters has decided to assault one of the #BoswellCircus employees. So I’m going home #non-violence ONLY — Grant Nash (@GrantNash) April 21, 2013

Clark then still had the audacity to tweet about the success of the “peaceful” protest afterwards, also demonstrating indifference towards the person who had been arrested, ignoring questions about the status of the detainee.

The organisers of this kind of thing seem to think that, just because someone voluntarily came to the protest, they as organisers don’t need to take any responsibility for them. That is so far off the mark – the organisers are precisely the people who should take responsibility. That’s why it is important to inform everyone of all details prior to the protest. They’re the ones who have put people in this dangerous situation in the first place. They’re the ones who should have strongly advised people who brought dogs, children and babies, that it would be better for them to not take part, as they would be put at risk.

Yet, this blatant disregard of the law, of their own people’s safety; these hypocritical and ignorant actions – all of these things are the reason “normal people” think animal rights activists are crazy. All of these things are exactly why you’re not getting through to people. You, irate, hyper-emotional, unpredictable animal rights activist, are your own worst enemy. And you are also the reason other people don’t take the rest of us seriously when we want to have reasonable, intelligent and informed discussions about animal rights philosophy – because they think that we must all be as crazy as you, because you are the only ones that ever make the news.

So thanks for making us all look crazy. Some of us really aren’t. Some of us really care about animals (and people too, believe it or not) – enough to want to do these kind of things in a civilised manner that might actually have some impact. We would actually like to come up with solutions.

Because, I can’t help but wonder if any of these “animal rights” organisations have ever approached Boswell in a calm, civilised manner to actually explain to him what the real issue is; to educate him on animal rights and why it’s not even necessarily the abuse of animals that is the problem. Because if no one has, you’re shooting first, trying to ask questions later.

And you fired off many, many rounds this weekend.