I have grown up as a Timberwolves fan. I am not the most adamant or die-hard of them, but coming of age during the organization’s prime has always given the franchise a warm place in my heart. I rooted HARD for KG and the Wolves in the 2004 playoffs and was devastated when they lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. So this season, with them finally looking to be a threat to make it past the first round once again, I have naturally taken up interest. Call me a fair-weather fan if you will… But, along with this rekindled interest, another part of my life has intersected with the Timberwolves; my veganism.
The recent protests at Timberwolves games have made me think a lot about forms of protest and how they are received, how animal rights protesters are treated, and what the ripple effects of their actions truly are.
Here is a bit of backstory for anyone who isn’t a Timberwolves fan or otherwise hasn’t heard of these incidents:
Glen Taylor is the richest man in Minnesota ($2.6 billion according to Google), and also the current owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves (although he is under contract to sell the franchise in an agreement that begins this year, and into next year). Talor also owns Rembrandt Foods, one of the world’s largest egg-producing farms in Iowa. Due to the breakout of avian flu, Rembrandt determined that they needed to “cull their flock”. This is farm speak for executing the hens; 5.3 million of them in this case.
The method that Rembrandt Foods utilized for this is called Ventilation Shutdown or VSD for short. According to Vetrinatians Against VSD, “Ventilation shutdown is defined as the cessation of natural or mechanical ventilation of atmospheric air in a building where birds are housed, with or without action to increase the ambient temperature. Birds die of hyperthermia.” Essentially, the birds are killed slowly via heatstroke, or suffocation from the buildup of gasses that are pumped into the building. This takes an average of several hours and is also not 100% effective, causing the remaining birds to merely be tortured prior to another form of execution.
One thing to throw in here as well is that disease is inevitable in factory farming. The animals are kept in such close quarters that any disease will quickly spread amongst the entire population in such unnatural conditions. They are put in the position of being at “superspreader events” for their entire lives, which either end by these dramatic means in the case of an outbreak, or unnaturally short because we have decided as humans that we have the right to treat animals as less important than we are, and their worth is less than the time it takes for us to enjoy a meal.
To bring attention to this issue, an activist from the group Direct Action Everywhere glued her hand to the court at the play-in game between the Timberwolves and the LA Clippers on April 12th. This was the first of what presently stands as three separate protests. In Memphis on April 16th, another DAE activist chained herself to the hoop, and another activist recently attempted to run onto the court at the Minneapolis Target Center on April 23rd. The first two wore shirts that said “Glen Taylor Roasts Animals Alive” and the third was reportedly dressed as a referee and was planning to eject Glen Taylor for the “foul” he committed, although she was tackled immediately and she and a partner who was filming were manhandled by numerous security staff and forcefully removed from the arena.
At the arenas, the activists were booed loudly. They were all grabbed by numerous security staff, picked up, and forcefully removed from the arenas. Commentators called them crazy and belittled their efforts. Some were arrested and charged with trespassing, and as far as I am aware, all were banned from the respective arenas for a year. There has been a lot of talk in the vegan community about this, and with much detail. But in other areas, I have also seen new articles and have been happy to have a few conversations with people that would have never happened without these incidents sparking the conversation.
I have enjoyed this ability to have those conversations thanks to the activists, and their willingness to literally put their bodies in harm’s way to get their message across. In short, those conversations mean that to me the protests have been a success. Just look at what comes up in a Google search for Glen Taylor currently.
On the other side of the coin, I find it ironic that NBA fans, many of whom probably now would claim to support Colin Kaepernick, are so quick to boo someone that is acting in a similar fashion without first knowing the details of their cause. They cheer as women are handled roughly by multiple large men. Some of these people probably don’t have that particular hypocrisy, but maybe they supported the Trucker Convoys or other obstructive protests who were not greeted with the same level of aggression by authorities.
Whenever these issues arise we get the same cliches; “There is a time and place for everything.”, “There is a right way and a wrong way to get your message across.” etc. etc. However, these incidents have inconvenienced a minimal number of people as compared to the aforementioned Trucker Convoys or blocking freeways, no emergency vehicles were re-routed, no one was hurt, and no property was even damaged.
So, what is “the right way” to protest? Isn’t the point to make a scene and to get noticed? I have been convinced that in some cases the ends justify the means, and for one, I will be willing to wait to research the message that a protester is trying to deliver before castigating them going forward.
It may not be as loud as the arena was, but I am clapping for all of the DAE protesters right now. Thank you.
