Cheese shop in Paris vandalised by militant vegan activists
A cheese shop in Paris has been vandalised overnight by militant vegan activists, with explicit graffiti tags on the shop windows accusing farmers of being criminals.
The cheese shop Les Fromages de Gambetta in the 20th arrondissement posted photos of the graffiti, which was daubed in white paint over windows and the pavement next to the shop.
The attack happened overnight on Monday August 31.
The explicit graffiti included: “Cheese = carnage”; “Not your mother, not your milk”; “farmers = rapists”, “murderers”, and “milk = rape”.
An inquiry has now been opened to identify the perpetrators. CCTV footage appears to show at least three people taking part in the graffiti action.
Mayor of the 20th arrondissement, Eric Pliez, visited the neighbourhood to share his condolences with the shopkeepers, who he said had been “victims of unacceptable vandalism”.
The mayor’s office services quickly acted to clean the graffiti away.
Mr Pliez’s deputy, Carine Ekon, tweeted: “I protest against the vandalism of several butchers and cheese shops in our arrondissement. People should not be afraid when they are at work. Everyone has the right to defend their opinions, but we will not tolerate violent activists attacking shops.”
Audrey Pulvar, deputy mayor to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and in charge of agriculture / sustainable food, said that she was also offended by the vandalism.
In a Tweet, she wrote: “Vegan activists can express themselves without aggression nor stopping the running of perfectly legal businesses that are working normally”.
This is not the first attack of its kind on cheese shops, butchers, and even fishmongers in recent years.
In 2019, two anti-meat activists were jailed, and two others handed suspended sentences, for attacks on butcher shops, restaurants and businesses in Hauts-de-France.
And in August 2018, a vegan festival that was scheduled to take place in Calais was cancelled due to mounting tensions between activists and butchers.
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