A legislative hearing in California was disrupted on Wednesday when an animal rights organizer glued her hand to a table and refused to leave.
The Assembly Agriculture Committee met to vote on various pieces of legislation. The meeting included a limited public comment session where people are only allowed to say their name, affiliation and whether they support or oppose a bill.
Carla Cabral, an organizer with the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, wanted to tell lawmakers how upset she was that they were not voting on a bill that proposed a moratorium on new factory farms.
Cabral sat down and quickly applied superglue to her left hand and placed it on the table in front of her. Committee officials turned off her microphone, but Cabral kept speaking. Committee chair Robert Rivas, a Democrat from Hollister, then stopped the hearing so lawmakers and staff could move to another room to finish.
In an interview, Cabral said paramedics used WD-40 to free her hand from the table. Police then escorted her from the building, but did not arrest her or issue a citation. Cabral said she was not injured, calling it “a minor irritation compared to the billions of animals being murdered.”