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- Shocking moment shopper smashes vegan protester's megaphone
- Hero shopper who smashed vegan's megaphone 'apologises and gives her £60'
A vegan protester whose megaphone was smashed by an Asda shopper has said she forgives the 'genuinely nice guy' after he repeatedly apologised - and vows to keep demonstrating.
Ella Wild was part of a small group of anti-meat campaigners who staged a demonstration inside an Asda store in Canterbury, Kent, on Easter Saturday.
But as she warned customers exactly what they were buying, a man came up, grabbed her loudhailer and smashed it to pieces on the floor.
He immediately apologised afterwards and gave her money to replace her equipment - and sent her several messages later to reiterate how sorry he was.
Ms Wild has now revealed she forgives the 'genuinely nice guy' - and that nothing will stop her protesting, as the group continued demonstrating without the hailer and staged other, similar protests later that day.
She told MailOnline his wife pulled her aside around ten minutes after it happened and said he wanted to talk to her: 'He just said, "Look, I want to apologise, I'm really sorry, I feel terrible for the way I reacted, I want to pay you for a new megaphone".
'He asked me how much it was and handed over the money and was very apologetic.'
She added: 'He just seems like a genuinely nice guy. And I think he just maybe lost his temper a little bit.'
Ella Wild (centre) was part of a small group of anti-meat campaigners who staged a demonstration inside an Asda store in Canterbury, Kent, on Easter Saturday
But as she warned customers exactly what they were buying, a man came up, grabbed her loudhailer and smashed it to pieces on the floor (pictured)
It has now been revealed that he immediately apologised afterwards and offered to replace her equipment
The protester carried on protesting in the Asda, without the hailer - and went on to do other, similar demonstrations elsewhere that afternoon, after making a quick detour home to get another megaphone.
Ms Wild, who runs the 'Vegan Fairy' Instagram account documenting her protest efforts, said: 'It's going to take a lot for me to stop, I don't think I ever will to be honest.
'I receive a lot of abusive messages online and comments, people saying really, really nasty things, threatening me, telling me all sorts of horrible things, basically calling you nasty names.
'None of this puts me off because at the end of the day, my main goal is to help the animals.
'Because the way I see it, yeah, I might get abusive messages, verbally, physically potentially, but none of that really is anything in comparison to what these animals are forced to endure.'
She added of the man who smashed the hailer, just after she had started her protest speech: 'I think he did feel just very sorry about the way he reacted to the whole situation.'
She said she 'had a bit more respect' for him after he apologised so quickly: 'I thought, "OK, that's actually quite rare for anybody who behaves in such a way.
'"They don't normally apologise and pay you for the damage caused without us asking".
In the clip, the man storms off after his moment of fury (pictured) to the shock and bewilderment of shoppers - and even some Asda workers themselves - nearby
'It's not like we asked or the police asked, none of that happened, he just voluntarily did it after he'd calmed down a bit... I felt calm and just carried on.'
Ms Wild finished: 'I sort of felt, "OK, he seems like a decent guy, I think he's actually right".'
Witnesses in the store confirmed to MailOnline that shortly after the clash, once he had completed his shopping, the man sought out Ms Wild so he could make peace with her and offer to buy her new equipment.
One said the man was 'not acting out of anger or malice', adding: 'With tears in his eyes, he handed over £60 as remuneration during which he explained how his time in Northern Ireland had left him with a profound case of PTSD.
'It was the megaphone itself that paralleled what he had been subjected to in the past and through a "trigger" event he could not control, he smashed it.'
Ms Wild was with a group gathered to warn shoppers of the way animals are killed for meat at Easter - and to protest against the use of animal products such as dairy and eggs.
They were holding up screens showing footage of animal slaughter while Ms Wild spoke through the megaphone, when the man took the hailer from her.
Footage uploaded to Ms Wild's Instagram page, called 'Vegan Fairy', shows him wordlessly snatching it from her as she was mid-sentence, talking about how animals are celebrated at Easter - yet also eaten.
She was with a group (pictured) gathered to warn shoppers of the cruel way animals are killed for meat at Easter - and to protest the use of animal products like dairy and eggs
The witness explained: 'He does so silently, as if it were directed towards the activists, he would have said something to them.
'He walks away to remove himself from the situation as he was not there to debate their reason for protest or become embroiled in an argument, he just acted upon the scars of past events and departed the scene.'
They emphasised the man was 'a victim of past events, not an angry reactor to the situation of the present'.
In the clip, the man uses force to yank the megaphone out her hands as she resists, knocking her to the side before throwing it to the floor, where it smashes into pieces.
As he walks off, her fellow protesters shout, 'Hey, what is wrong with you? You're an idiot!', to the shock and bewilderment of shoppers - and even some Asda workers themselves - nearby.
The person filming says, 'A violent person', as they follow the man with the camera as he walks away.
Store staff and security then come over to talk to the protesters, while Ms Wild picks up the pieces of the broken megaphone.
One protester says, 'We have a right to be here', as the group has a discussion with staff about contacting the police.
They went on to continue protesting after the incident.
People who saw the footage on social media took to the comments to express their views.
One person commented: 'You [the protesters] should have been kicked out the moment you stepped in the store.'
Ms Wild responded to their remark too: 'You pay for it, so you should be fine with seeing it...
'The animals have to live it. If you don't want to see it, imagine what it's like for them, and they're just babies.'
She added: 'We stayed and continued with our protest to raise awareness for the sentient beings harmed for meat, dairy and eggs.'
Someone else said: 'Protesting is fine, but shouting and protesting is causing a ruckus to other customers. Do it outside.'
Another person added: 'Causing disruption is not going to help your cause, probably the opposite.'
Someone else chimed in: 'You're silly if you didn't expect some sort of reaction.'
A Kent Police spokesperson said: 'Kent Police was called at 1.46pm on Saturday 19 April to a report of a disturbance involving a small group of people at ASDA on Sturry Road, Canterbury.
'Officers attended and spoke to those present before the group dispersed. Enquiries to establish the full circumstances are ongoing.'
