The protester whose stunt was thwarted by Los Angeles Rams players during the “Monday Night Football” game against the San Francisco 49ers has been identified as an animal rights activist of the group Direct Action Everywhere.
The man ran onto the field holding a pink smoke flare during the second quarter at Levi’s Stadium, where his mad dash came to a grinding halt when Rams defenders Bobby Wagner and Takk McKinley slammed him to the ground.
Security then caught up with the interloper and hauled him off.
Direct Action Everywhere identified the man and his alleged cohort as Bay Area residents Alex Taylor, who was taken down, and Allison Fluty – both of whom were wearing “RightToRescue.com” T-shirts.
The grassroots organization said the stunt was meant to draw attention to the trial of two of its members who allegedly snuck into a Utah pig farm five years ago and stole a pair of piglets.
“Paul Darwin Picklesimer and Wayne Hsiung rescued two sick piglets from Circle Four and documented dead and diseased piglets languishing in their mother’s feces and injured adult pigs physically unable to stand,” the group said in a news release.
Of the five activists charged in the 2017 incident, three took plea deals while Picklesimer and Hsiung face third-degree felony charges of burglary and a misdemeanor count of theft. Their trial began Monday.
“Smithfield will do anything to hide its abuses from the public because they know that if people saw what is happening inside factory farms, they would be horrified,” Taylor said in the release, referring to the owner of Circle Four Farms.
“They are going to great lengths to throw two of my friends in prison for years simply for investigating their farms and rescuing sick and dying piglets,” he said.
“I took action to raise awareness about the ongoing Smithfield trial,” the activist added.
Direct Action Everywhere said a similar protest was staged during the season-opening Bills-Rams game last month, when two activists also ran onto the field.
“One of the women, Emek Echo, sustained severe head trauma when she was tackled, which she says left her dazed and unable to stand when security,” the group said.
Taylor and Fluty have been cited for the “Monday Night Football” stunt, according to the rights group.
The Post has reached out to Smithfield Foods for comment.
