Animal rights protesters with pink smoke flares ran onto the field Thursday night and disrupted the NFL season opener between the Buffalo Bills and the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
At the time of the interruption, the game was in the fourth quarter.
The protesters Emek Echo and Katia Shokrai were with the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (also known as DxE), trying to highlight the upcoming trial of two Smithfield Foods whistleblowers.
One of the flares was dropped into one of the stadium’s end zones and was removed by staff. The other was carried across the field by one of the protesters.
The protester ran across the middle of the playing surface before being tackled by stadium security.
Afterward, Bills free safety Micah Hyde threw the second flare into the nearest end zone, where it was also promptly removed.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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