On May 30, members of the animal liberation network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) rushed the stage of a Bernie Sanders rally in Oakland, California, decrying Sanders’ support for animal agriculture and demanding an end to violence against animals in the United States. Activists climbed over metal barricades at the rally in front of Oakland City Hall to display banners reading “Animal Liberation Now” and “Animal Rights is Social Justice.” The activists halted Sanders’ speech before quickly being removed from the rally by Secret Service agents.

“Sanders claims to oppose ‘factory farming,’ but what he hides is that virtually all farms in the United States, including farms he supports, are essentially factory farms,” said protest organizer Aidan Cook. “What we’ve learned in the case of human oppression applies to animals too: when we see someone as an object, all sorts of horrors — notably factory farming — are not just possible but inevitable.”

In March Sanders was criticized by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons for refusing to combat animal agriculture and, according to Sanders’ wife, declaring that he stands with the farmers. Simmons in turn endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination and Sanders was criticized in the Huffington Post as an “animal agribusiness stooge.”

Read More | Bernie Sanders rallies in Oakland before California primary | Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)