Shoppers at Trader Joe's in California have been sharing the aisles with animal rights activists, and it doesn't appear that's going change anytime soon.
Over the past few months, Direct Action Everywhere - a Berkeley-headquartered group - has been holding demonstrations inside Trader Joe's stores across the state. As the group's name suggests, their tactics include disrupting the daily operations of targeted companies.
At Trader Joe's, that has taken the form of marching into the stores with megaphones, screaming profanities at customers, gluing themselves to surfaces, and using signs and videos.
According to SFGATE, the group is protesting Trader Joe's poultry products, alleging its supplier — Perdue subsidiary Petaluma Poultry — is keeping birds in inhumane conditions.
Trader Joe's has served the group a cease-and-desist letter, according to a July 3 complaint in Alameda County courts.
Trader Joe's legal representatives believe the group will ignore the cease and desist and will continue to enter its stores and disrupt customers, the documents state.
The complaint notes that Direct Action Everywhere has been targeting Trader Joe's locations for years, but the group's incursions have only recently become more aggressive and more frequent.
It describes the group as using signs, skits, and videos, and alleges that more aggressive tactics are causing potential fights.
“They have threatened and berated Trader Joe’s customers and Crew Members, physically engaged with Trader Joe’s customers, removed items from customers’ shopping baskets, and posed as authorized representatives of Trader Joe’s,” the complaint says.
During a disruption on July 2 at a Pasadena Trader Joe’s, one woman glued herself to the meat aisle. At the same time, another protester glued herself to the front desk at the grocery chain's corporate headquarters in Monrovia.
Both women were arrested and charged with court dates set for August, according to SFGATE.
Days before the July 2 event, Direct Action Everywhere members protested at a number of Trader Joe's locations across California. The complaint alleges that Trader Joe's employees asked the group to stop filming and to leave, but they refused.
On June 28, the group stormed a San Diego Trader Joe's and some members allegedly got into a shouting match with a customer, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit says that "at least a dozen customers complaint to Crew members about how shaken they were and how some of them were harassed verbally and felt threatened."
The Independent has contacted Trader Joe’s, Petaluma Poultry, and Direct Action Everywhere for comment.
The group says it plans to continue its protests until Trader Joe's changes its poultry supplier.
“I’ve seen firsthand the cruelty at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry—chickens sick, injured, crammed into filthy crates, left to suffer in agony,” Carla Cabral, a Direct Action Everywhere member named in the complaint, said in a news release.
“We brought this to Trader Joe’s, but instead of listening, they blocked us, refused all dialogue, and hired powerful attorneys to try to shut us up.”
