Animal rights activist Rita Ross, 63, has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit after she was ejected from a New York performance of the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.
Clyde Beatty representatives ended up calling the police to deal with Ross on July 12, 2002. She was arrested on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and trespass. Ross is suing the circus and the private security firm at the mall where the circus performed.
Ross claims she was targeted because of her animal rights views. The New York Journal News excerpted part of her lawsuit that reads,
The defendants . . . determined among themselves that persons who harbored beliefs concerning certain deference and respect toward animals displayed and shown at the circus presentation of defendant Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus were to be deemed suspicious and must be excluded and removed from the property.
But according to Clyde Beatty-Cole vice president of administration Renee Story, the circus attempted to eject Ross only after she had repeatedly left her seat and rushed toward the animals to take photographs. The circus employees considered Ross’ behavior disruptive and potentially unsafe and, according to Story, “Several times she was escorted back to her seat.”
The New York Journal News reports that,
After the performance, Storey said, Ross screamed at staff members giving elephant rides and the patrons taking them.
Yeah, it sounds like Clyde Beatty-Cole employees didn’t have any good reason at all to call police to remove Ross from the premises.
Sources:
Putnam woman sues circus. Cara Matthews, New York Journal News, July 21, 2003.
Animal-rights activist sues circus over ejection. Associated Press, July 21, 2003.