On Sunday, June 25th, four DxE organizers had a chance to meet and talk with Senator Cory Booker. They spoke to him about animal agriculture and DxE's upcoming trial in Beaver County, Utah, in which Wayne Hsiung and Paul Darwin Picklesimer are facing felony charges for investigating a massive pig farm and rescuing two sick piglets.

Senator Booker is very familiar with the harms of animal agriculture and Smithfield Foods, specifically. He shared about his experiences visiting North Carolina and the communities who are on the frontlines of Smithfield's environmental destruction, and was visibly angry about the Smithfield case. Senator Booker also spoke about the need for nonviolent direct action and for "not being spectators in democracy!" He passed along his contact information so we could follow up as trial gets nearer. 

While this event was a general "meet and greet" event, Senator Booker spent a lot of time addressing our questions and talking about how ruthless and destructive animal agriculture is, which was great not just for us, but to educate everyone else at the event. Lots of great connections were made, including with the mayor of Walnut Creek (where the event was held) who was super interested in the trial.

While we cannot rely on politicians alone to fix this horrible system, it's great that there are some, like Senator Booker, who are willing to speak out against animal agriculture and we hope to continue to get his support!

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