As part of the nationwide, so-called “free speech” rallies by right-wing groups, an event has been planned for this coming Saturday. One dog owner, incensed over the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, came up with the perfect plan. As his dogs were doing their “business” recently in Golden Gate Park, he was struck by a mental image of Alt-Right protesters stomping through a “field of poop.”
What started as a joke, became a ‘dog-poop event’
It was Tuffy Tuffington, an artist in San Francisco that originally came up with the idea.
Initially, it started as an “absurd” joke, but the more Tuffington thought about it, the better the idea became. Tuffington, 45, said he wanted a way to push back peacefully against the white supremacists as they marched in his city, without having to meet up with them face to face.
As reported by the Sacramento Bee, Tuffington then went on to start a Facebook event, along with around 15 friends, in order to encourage dog owners to “leave a gift” for the Alt-Right protesters from Oregon. The “Patriot Prayer” rally is set to be held the Crissy Field public park, close to the Golden Gate Bridge.
In the description of the event, Tuffington encouraged people to take their dogs to Crissy Field on Friday night or Saturday morning to let them do their business, but to be sure not to clean up after their pets.
While this might sound bad to non-dog owners, the group does plan to return on Saturday night or early Sunday morning to clean up the mess.
According to the Washington Post, while Tuffington only initially invited 15 friends to the “dog-poop event,” in the week since it was posted, 980 dog-lovers have joined the cause, while a further 5,300 are reportedly “interested” in participating. To add to the, um, aroma, several said they would even collect their pets’ poop during the week prior to the event to add to the cause.
Tuffington did say he doesn’t expect a huge number of people to participate in the “dog-poop event,” and added he is not sure if anyone is stockpiling poop for the rally, but he reckons protesters will have to watch their step on Saturday, adding a direct message to the Alt-Right group to “watch out for landmines.” Tuffington did say no concern has been expressed by maintenance workers or park rangers over the “dog-poop” event.
Patriot Prayer say they are not about bigotry and racism
As reported by SFGate, the permit for the Alt-Right event described it as being a rally involving around 300 people, running from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. However that report quotes Joey Gibson, a Patriot Prayer spokesman, as saying their rally will not promote bigotry or racism.
The group is reportedly attempting to distance itself from the Alt-Right group who rallied in Charlottesville before Heather Heyer was killed and several other peaceful anti-protesters were injured. Reportedly Saturday’s event is one of several rallies and counter-protests to be held around the city.