On Thursday, just 8 days after Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade announced their new campaign, two Los Angeles activists were arrested while protesting outside Max Mara.
This 4-person demonstration is yet another example of how strong any action has the potential to be, regardless of size. After the first arrest, the remaining activists continued up until Max Mara shut their doors, which was followed by the final arrest. Both activists were kept overnight and released early this morning, only to head straight back to Max Mara and show them that our voices will not be silenced by arrests or intimidation tactics. The two are still facing charges and have court dates set to determine their fates.
We have already incurred $2500 from these arrests and there is a possibility that fines and lawyer fees could raise that amount even more. Any and all help would be much appreciated.
Once the police showed up the first activist was arrested for the possession of an “incendiary device” – the smoke flare – that later got reduced to possession of a destructive device. This same activist was also charged with “defacing property” which we assume is for chalking a sidewalk a week ago (which we ourselves cleaned up after the protest was over)- both of these charges are misdemeanors. The other activist was arrested for allegedly “assaulting a police officer”. We are still unclear as to what assault took place but this is a felony offense and is a very serious accusation.
