Frustrated shoppers lash out at vegan protesters after they stormed a supermarket and stopped people from buying products from meat section
- Vegan protesters stormed a Countdown supermarket in Auckland on Sunday
- Group claimed they were on a peaceful protest while standing in front of meat
- Vegans were told to leave the store before protesting through the food court
Vegan protesters dressed in black have stormed a supermarket and formed a human barricade to cordon off the store’s meat section.
Some of the agitators taped their mouths shut as they held up signs reading: ‘Stop eating animals’ and ‘It’s not food it’s violence’ at the Countdown supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday.
Frustrated shoppers responded by hurling abuse towards the protesters and branded them ‘disgusting’ before demanding they leave the store.
The stunt, which was filmed and shared on social media, was lead by Amanda Rippon, who claimed the group was being ‘peaceful’.
‘We are here on a peaceful protest for the victims who don’t get seen or heard behind closed doors and are lying dead behind us now,’ Ms Rippon was heard saying in the video.
Ms Rippon admitted she didn’t have permission to be in the store when confronted by one of the supermarket’s employees.
Shoppers refused to be deterred by the stunt and continued to browse the meat aisle.
‘Get out of my face. I’m disgusted you guys are even here in my supermarket when I’m buying my food. You disgust me,’ one shopper said.
Another furious woman lashed out at the vegans after she was filmed by Ms Rippon.
St Luke’s Countdown in Auckland, New Zealand, was bombarded by vegan activists on Sunday sending the grocery store into a frenzy (pictured)
‘Take your camera off me! I’m doing my f***ing shopping!’ she said.
‘I’m doing my shopping lady, unless you’re going to pay for my shopping you can f*** off.’
The group eventually left the supermarket, parading through the rest of the shopping mall’s food court, chanting ‘It’s not food it’s violence’.
One member of the group, Deno Stokes, defended the act saying they weren’t doing anything ‘extreme’.
‘I think the way those animal parts have been put in the supermarket is far more extreme than what we’re doing,’ Mr Stokes said after the protest.
‘We’re not doing any damage, we’re just standing with the signs and raising awareness.’
The groups members were dressed in black, with tape covering their mouths as they held up signs saying ‘Stop eating animals’ and ‘It’s not food it’s violence’ (pictured)
A spokesperson for Countdown said police was called after the group refused to leave.
‘As a supermarket we work hard to provide our vegan and vegetarian customers with good quality and affordable options in our stores, and we are also deeply committed to good animal welfare practices throughout our supply chain,’ the spokesperson said in a statement.
‘We reserve the right to ask anyone undertaking protest action to leave our stores, however on this occasion this request was ignored several times.
‘The police were called to support our team and the protesters left shortly afterwards.’
Many shoppers hurled abuse towards the protesters, demanding they leave the supermarket