Written by Elizabeth Renter, Natural Society, http://naturalsociety.com/mcdonalds-sues-protesters-reject-fast-food/

“We’re doing this for your own protection.”  Protesters with the Australian group BurgerOff are hearing a similar phrase from McDonald’s.  The fast food giant is suing  protestors who object to the birth of  a new McDonald’s restaurant near an elementary school. What’s  more, Mickey D’s (slang for McDonald’s) is saying that the lawsuit is for the  protesters’ own protection. It isn’t clear what this protection is against,  unless McDonald’s thinks they can protect people from good health.

Nearly 100,000 people from Australia, mostly in the town of Tecoma, have  signed a petition seeking to stop McDonald’s from building there. But  McDonald’s doesn’t care what the people want.

Members of the group BurgerOff, so committed to keeping Ronald and the Fry  Guys out, recently flew around the world to deliver their petition to McDonald’s  global headquarters near Chicago. Not only were they not given an audience with  the company’s execs, but representatives refused to even touch the petition.

Read: McDonald’s  Shuts Down Restaurants in Bolivia

Every day, kids as young as five years old would need to walk past a  giant advertisement for junk food just to go to school…

Our community doesn’t want that. The plan is opposed by 90% of residents…But  instead of respecting our wishes, McDonald’s appealed the decision and are using  their huge financial and legal power to bully their way into our  town. They’re now suing locals who are objecting to the building of  the store in the Victorian Supreme Court – and there are accounts  of McDonald’s private security on the proposed site threatening and intimidating  locals who have peacefully protested against the plan.

BurgerOff and citizens of the town have organized protests, flash mobs,  social media work, and community outreach events to keep McDonald’s at bay.  While they’ve managed to hold them off for the past few years, McDonald’s is  undeterred.

As a matter of fact, they are so committed to putting in a restaurant where  they aren’t wanted, that they are suing the protesters. McDonald’s has filed a  lawsuit to keep protesters away from the construction site. It’s their opinion  that the town wants them there and the protesters only represent a small  fraction.

“That’s a lie that McDonald’s in Australia keeps pushing,” says Garry  Muratore, one of the protestors. “We know that nine out of 10 people don’t want  this.”

Those “nine out of 10 people” were represented in the more than 7,000 pages  of petition that were hand delivered to McDonald’s global headquarters, pages  that had to be handed off to a security guard because company officials wouldn’t  come near it.

Read: Why  You Should Avoid Fast Food at All Costs

As for their lawsuit, McDonald’s says it is the best way to protect the  protesters. Confused? So are the protesters.

“We then pointed out that if they were being responsible, why are they suing  us? And it was a little bit like the quote from the Vietnam War that we had to  destroy the village to save it,” added Muratore. “They actually told us that  they were suing us for our own legal protection… I don’t know what that meant,  but they seemed to think it was a great idea.”

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