Vegan Activists Who Stormed Melbourne Restaurant Vow to Do It Every Month

Thirty-five vegan protesters who burst into a Melbourne steakhouse on the weekend, chanting at diners through loudspeakers, say they plan on carrying out similar protests on a monthly basis in order to “to speak up for animals where their dead bodies [are] being consumed," news.com.au reports. The protesters, who belong to the groups Direct Action Everywhere Melbourne and Melbourne Cow Save Animal Liberation Army, also told news.com.au that the next step—mere days away—would be to shut down a slaughterhouse. “What we want to do is get between the animals and the blade,” said Joanne Lee from Direct Action Everywhere. “That involves disrupting, so going inside.” Lee said around between 40-60 people were expected to show up for the planned slaughterhouse demonstration, and that branches of Direct Action Everywhere were now emerging around the country, including in Geelong, Adelaide, and Brisbane. “We’re going to be doing all sorts of things, you could see us in restaurants, in markets, at expos,” she said. “We’ll be hitting up restaurants or any sort of place that uses animals for food, clothing, or entertainment."

Direct Action prides themselves on a more "active" type of vegan consciousness raising. According to their Facebook page, "Our objective is to force animal rights into the public consciousness through nonviolent direct action … We want to get a discussion going and create the debate. We are challenging social norms." Talking to news.com.au, Lee compared the movement to the likes of racial justice causes and feminist campaigns. “If people didn’t break the law and push boundaries, black people would still be enslaved, women wouldn’t have the right to vote. This kind of action is needed for society to change. It’s about creating tension.”