Michigan man fined $15 after protesting outside KFC in Vietnam
NORTHVILLE - An animal rights advocate from Michigan has been fined $15 after protesting outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Jason Baker, a representative of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was taken into police custody Tuesday after standing outside a downtown KFC at noon inside a cage holding a sign that read "KFC Tortures Chickens," said fellow protester Noah Mark, who was not arrested.
Mark said the event was staged to try to draw the most attention to their cause. All demonstrations must be preapproved by the communist government. "Everyone knows Vietnam is not a place where you demonstrate," Baker told the Detroit Free Press by telephone Wednesday from his hotel. He said the arrest caused him to miss his flight out of Vietnam.
Baker, 32, of Northville, Mich., said Tuesday that he had not sought government permission and was aware he could be jailed for demonstrating. He said he had planned a vacation in Vietnam but decided to protest when he noticed KFCs in Ho Chi Minh City. Mark said the stunt was part of a global PETA campaign to increase awareness about how chickens are treated while they're raised and the methods by which they're slaughtered. "I would do it over again in a heartbeat," Baker said.
The Associated Press - November 25, 2004
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