Milkshaking

About

Milkshaking is the practice of pouring dairy-based beverages on right-wing political figures as a statement of protest. Online, the ethics of the practice have been widely debated regarding whether it should be considered a form of assault or violent protest.

Origin

On May 1st, 2019, a protester tossed a milkshake at right-wing activist Tommy Robinson on a sidewalk in Bury, England. The following day, another protester was filmed dumping an entire milkshake on Robinson during an argument (shown below).

Spread

On May 12th, 2019, Twitter user @JoshAdamsLabour^[2] tweeted photos of Carl Benjamin after he had been milkshaked (shown below).

On May 16th, the NewStatesman^[1] published an article titled "'Lactose Against Intolerance' How milkshake became a tool protest." The following day, a McDonald's located near a Nigel Farage event ceased selling milkshakes and ice cream due to "a police request" (shown below).

In response, the UK Burger King Twitter account tweeted directly to the people of Scotland that they would still be selling milkshakes. The tweet gained over 106,000 likes and over 19,000 retweets within one week (see below).

On May 20th, The Independent^[3] reported that Benjamin had milkshakes thrown on his four times in one week. The same day, YouTuber Count Dankula tweeted a Brazzers photoshop using pictures of Nigel Farage, Carl Benjamin and Tommy Robinson (shown below).

Also on May 20th, Brexit leader Nigel Farage was milkshaked while campaigning in Newcastle, England (shown below).

Andy Ngo Assaulted by Antifa

On June 29th, 2019, reporter Jim Ryan tweeted a video of journalist Andy Ngo being assaulted by antifa protesters and having milkshakes thrown on him in downtown Portland, Oregon (shown below).

Shortly after, Ngo tweeted a video of himself with visible wounds on his face while covered in milkshake (shown below). Within three hours, the video accumulated 9,500 likes and 6,200 retweets. In the video, Ngo describes the assault to a police officer, revealing that they stole his GoPro camera that he had been recording with. That day, The Washington Times^[4] published an article about the incident titled "Journalist Andy Ngo beaten up by antifa activists at Portland protest."

Also on June 29th, the official Portland Police Department Twitter^[5] feed announced that police had "received information that some of the milkshakes thrown today during the demonstration contained quick-drying cement" (shown below). Meanwhile, Ebaum's World^[6] published an article titled "Journalist Andy Ngo Hospitalized After Being Assaulted by Antifa Mob."

Search Interest

External References