Charges and counter charges as vegan activists face off against WA restaurant

The situation at WA restaurant Fyre has gone from bad to worse, after the venue was targeted by a notorious group of animal rights activists led by activist Tash Peterson.

The fracas on Saturday night has led owner and chef John Mountain to press charges against the group, while welcoming the chance to address charges against him.

Peterson stood outside the packed restaurant with five other vegan activists, who played footage of animals being slaughtered on a TV screen and sounds of a loud pig screeching noises through a megaphone.

Mountain confronted the group several times, which led to several scuffles before police arrived.

There were three brawls in total as restaurant staff shut the blinds and coaxed Mountain back inside.

The situation became so tense that diners joined Mountain in attacking the protesters.

Mountain and Peterson have traded barbs over the incident.

“Fantastic ... I know exactly what I’ve done against her. It was horrific,” the Fyre owner said.

“He’s (Higgs) a little b...h. I didn’t touch him ... I came at the little s..t. I wanted to stop them getting footage ... he’s spreading lies about abattoirs.”

Mountain was unapologetic about his behaviour.

“I’ll f.....g threaten him every day of the week,” he said. “I need to protect my customers. They want the aggression ... whether I’ve handled it in the best way, whatever.”

Peterson filed an assault report once police turned up. She told The West Australian that a statement to Joondalup Police station claims she was “being manhandled”.

Peterson previously protested outside Fyre after Mountain banned vegans from his restaurant. She claims she was left with cuts and bruises from that first incident, when she was physically removed by staff.

After the latest stoush, Peterson released a video saying, “We decided to return to this restaurant tonight, we’ve just come back and it was probably just as chaotic.

“But this time we decided we wanted to stand there, on the outside, with the aim to essentially be completely silent and blast the screams of pigs.”

Jonathan Jackson, 11^th July 2023