A man who is reported to be an animal rights demonstrator stormed the stage at the California Democratic Party convention, taking a microphone from California Sen. Kamala Harris.

At the #BigIdeas @MoveOn festival moments ago — @KamalaHarris was on stage answering questions when a man jumped on stage and grabbed her microphone.

The senator came back out on stage to finish her speech about #EqualPay. pic.twitter.com/TtHLYSDUta

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 1, 2019

Harris was seated onstage at a panel hosted by the group MoveOn Saturday when the man walked up onto the stage toward her and took the microphone out of her hands.

The man attempted to speak into the microphone but was quickly restrained and ushered offstage by Harris supporters, including her husband.

An animal rights group called Direct Action Everywhere issued a news release claiming responsibility for the incident, The Washington Post reported. The organization identified the man who disrupted the event as Aidan Cook.

We sincerely regret that a protestor was able to gain access to the stage at our forum today & we apologize to Sen. @KamalaHarris. The protestor was removed & the program resumed. MoveOn members were excited to hear Harris continue to discuss her Big Idea to achieve pay equity.

— MoveOn (@MoveOn) June 2, 2019

MoveOn later issued an apology, saying “we sincerely regret that a protestor was able to gain access to the stage at our forum today.”

After Cook was removed from the stage, Harris then returned to the stage to continue talking about achieving pay equity.

The guy who took Kamala Harris’ mic, Aidan Cook, 24 of Oakland, said he’s trying to bring more attention to the mass extinction of animals. He is not being charged with a crime, he told us, adding that the MoveOn security crew was “cool about it.” pic.twitter.com/PLxpX5jbEw

— Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) June 2, 2019

I asked Aidan Cook, an animal rights activist who jumped onstage to interrupt Kamala Harris, if he had considered the optics of literally taking the microphone away from women of color.

“I did,” he said. “I tried to show my profound respect for each of the people onstage.” pic.twitter.com/uyMpV82lVP

— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) June 1, 2019

Cook later told reporters he was attempting to bring attention to “the mass extinction of animals.”

Watch above, via MSNBC

from Mediaite http://bit.ly/2Mk9N5j