Submitted by Texas Animal Freedom Fighters:

As it turns out, for those of us working on the Alice + Olivia Animal Cruelty Campaign, our reputation precedes us.

Today, January 23, 2021, when we arrived at the Highland Park Village outdoor mall, we found that the entrance nearest Alice + Olivia had been barricaded, that local police were stationed at every other entrance, that the sidewalks through the mall were being combed by more police, and that two private security guards were posted in front of the Alice + Olivia storefront. All for us peaceful protestors. Stacey, we are flattered.

Unlike animal abusers and their protectors in uniform, we activists are practiced at turning adversity into opportunity.

So while a few activists walked around the mall in pairs like shoppers, the rest of us piled into an Uber Black XL with signs and megaphones. The silly cops securing the mall perimeter were looking for a group of scruffy vegans on foot with protest gear, or in compact cars with bumper stickers. So as we entered in our Trojan horse, we didn’t receive a second look.

As the vehicle drove further into this nest of police, we waited for the right moment – and poured out directly in front of Alice + Olivia.

We handed off signs and megaphones to the waiting activists, and the demo started before we made it onto the sidewalk. Every pedestrian and store clerk in the mall turned and stared as we held A+O accountable for the heinous crimes they perpetrate against animals.

Aside from the store security, and the cop with them, the other officers were so busy guarding the entrances that there was nobody nearby when this raucous protest began in the heart of the mall. We managed to stall these geniuses for a full three minutes before they succeeded at kicking us off the property.

Perhaps Stacey Bendet believes that forcing us onto public streets will make us go away. But we will never go away, Stacey, until you go fur free. So we stayed on the street in front of the mall for another 45 minutes. To escort us across from the mall, the police shut down an entire street, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the neighborhood, and then kept an entire lane closed for the duration of our protest. As our five megaphones echoed through the streets, Alice + Olivia effectively couldn’t do business, owing to the many uniformed officers making their store look like the scene of a homicide.

Alice + Olivia thought they could intimidate us, but by blanketing the place with police and private security, the only people that they kept away were customers.

So let’s review, Stacey. We embarrassed you in front of an entire mall, despite literal barricades and a secure perimeter. We shut down a major traffic artery (or rather, the police did for us). In the neighborhood representing your largest customer base in the city, we turned the entire commercial center into a thunderous cacophony of chanting and speakouts against you.

Make the announcement.