Two female animal rights activists, Emek Echo and Katia Shokrai of the activist group Direct Action Everywhere, stormed the field at SoFi Stadium during the Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Rams game Thursday night. As both activists hit the aircraft, they released pink smoke flares that spread across the field before security tackled and restrained them. One of the activists was chased by two security guards before being tackled inches away from the Buffalo Bills defensive line. Emek Echo tries to avoid running down the field during the second half of an NFL football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 8, 2022.AP The Sophie incident is not the first time the animal rights protest group has disrupted a game across the professional sports landscape. In April, an activist from the organization chained herself to the back post during a Minnesota Timberwolves playoff game. The group targeted another Timberwolves game, forcing their way onto the field after sitting courtside behind Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor in August. Emek Echo runs on the field during the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game on Sept. 8, 2022.AP Another woman from the organization, later identified as activist Alicia Santurio, stuck her wrist on the court during the second quarter of the Timberwolves’ home game against the Clippers just three days later. Joey Chestnut took matters into his own hands by restraining an animal rights activist who tried to pass the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition in July. The activist group criticized the competition on social media after the fight. The activist group promotes “nonviolent direct action and community building to create revolutionary social and political change for animals,” according to their Twitter profile. The savage act was motivated by justice for two other activists who face more than a decade in prison for rescuing two sick baby pigs from a Smithfield Foods factory farm.
