Bar patrons who wore feather headdresses and war paint to a “Cowboys and Indians” party on Saturday faced a battle they may not have expected.

A horde of outraged social media users crashed the Parkdale bar where the party was being held and demanded they remove the “racist” costumes, after photos appeared on Twitter just hours earlier.

Experts are calling the flash protest of about 30 people rare, as it’s unusual for social media users in Canada to mobilize as events are unfolding. But for one Toronto woman who took part, it was hard not to speak up.

“They were reinforcing so many negative stereotypes,” said Leslie McCue, 25. “It’s degrading to our culture, to see women dressed in short felt costumes and low-cut tops, men with full headdresses holding alcohol, throwing tomahawks at each other and wearing multicoloured feathers.”

The themed party was apparently organized by a Toronto couple to celebrate two birthdays. More than 20 people attended, but none of the guests could be reached by the Star for comment.

The Rhino Bar and Restaurant on Queen St. W. played no part in organizing the party but faced the ire of many at the bar that night.

Photos of face-painted guests wielding tomahawks quickly appeared on Twitter, with the hashtag #racist or #racistparty. Soon, some were calling for action.

“Round dance flash mob at #TheRhinoBar #parkdale midnight tonight. Stand against racism #idlenomore,” wrote one user.

Danielle O’Hanley said staff dismissed complaints about the partygoers, who were also reportedly making war calls and acting out fake scalpings.

“By allowing the group to stay and take over a large section of the bar, the management was essentially saying it was OK to behave in that way,” she said.

On Monday, the Rhino posted a lengthy apology on its website. General manager Chris Starr wrote that staff had thought the group was on a pub crawl and would move on.

“We have heard from numerous people on social media that the event was racist and by implication that the Rhino is racist. We are deeply troubled by this,” Starr wrote.

Some stood up for the bar staff, including Victoria Vaughan, who said they were supportive and understanding.

She and friend Lance Morrison sat down with party attendees and explained why the costumes were offensive. On napkins, they wrote phrases like “I’m native and these are my people,” and “Are you OK with this?”

Meanwhile, McCue distributed copies of a CNN article titled, “We’re a culture, not a costume.” Eventually, some removed their headdresses and face-paint.

“This was a war fought with words. And it was beautiful,” Morrison wrote on Facebook. But he said that many partygoers still did not think the costumes were offensive.

Daniel Justice, chair of First Nations Studies at the University of British Columbia, said that “playing Indian” has a long history of racist subtext.

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“No one would play Jews and Nazis,” he said. “The narrative of cowboys and Indians is of cowboys killing Indians. That’s what westerns are about.”

Queen’s University social media expert Sidneyeve Matrix said that although information — and misinformation — spreads rapidly on social media, it’s still rare for Canadians to mobilize in response to real-time events.

“It never would have happened without a fleet of mobile gizmos and gadgets,” she said. “It really is about a connected class of people.”

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