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Caesar The 'No Drama Llama' Narrowly Escaped Getting Teargassed By Police At A Black Lives Matter Protest In Portland
R: @nuhkaysha/Twitter
If you go to a protest, you're bound to see something interesting. Someone in costume, a unique sign, it's hard to tell what you'll find.
But it's pretty safe to say that most of us wouldn't be expecting to see a llama attending a protest.
Caesar, the real-life "No Drama Llama" and Oregon's "celebrity camelid" is a confirmed Democrat and regularly attends events in support of women's rights, Planned Parenthood, and Black Lives Matter.
His latest appearance took place at the Portland Black Lives Matter Protest.
There's a llama at the protest in Portland bruh. This is wild. Lol pic.twitter.com/6L5cWchqJH
— REAUsé (@pREAUfessional) June 3, 2020
Someone brought a llama to the Portland protest. pic.twitter.com/bFRqkW6nwK
— Vote Shaming Enthusiast 🏳️🌈🙄 (@SJGrunewald) June 3, 2020
Needless to say, people were surprised.
But they were very supportive of the #llamaactivist, too.
Why was this llama doing more than some of y'all today! He was out there protesting and everything pic.twitter.com/lzlJ4yFMKh
— Nakaycha Dent 🏳️🌈 (@nuhkaysha) June 3, 2020
NO DRAMA LLAMA FOR BLACK LIVES IN DOWNTOWN PORTLAND pic.twitter.com/PtRbiox1bx
— kimberly (@HEARTxCORE_) June 3, 2020
Given the current social climate, Caesar has his work cut out from him, but he certainly doesn't seem to be shying away from the thought of big crowds.
In fact, Caesar's handler, Larry McCool, the owner of Mystic Llama Farm in Jefferson, Oregon, bragged on his great people skills in an interview back in December 2019.
McCool said of Caesar:
"I've been to many, many shows around the country, I've seen hundreds if not thousands of llamas, and I've never seen a llama that has the personality and the love that [Caesar] has for people."
"He is just bulletproof, he can handle anything. We go into schools and we go into nursing homes, and he's hugged by 50 first graders at the same time. And he's so patient, he'll stand there all day long and let them hug him."
Unfortunately at this event, though, Caesar almost had to prove whether or not he was teargas-proof, too.
Despite the fact that this was a peaceful protest, the police began to use force later in the evening to encourage people to head home.
Several larger crowds were blocking access to downtown Portland, where the police began to use flash grenades and tear gas.
Flash bang grenades and tear gas being fired on a massive crowd near the Justice Center #PDXprotests #PortlandProtests #Portland pic.twitter.com/IAfiP7PxLR
— Eric Watkins (@GodAndBuckeyes) June 3, 2020
Caesar and McCool were still in-attendance at that time, and fellow activists threatened what would happen if Caesar was injured.
If anyone tear gasses the llama I swear Civil War II starts tonight https://t.co/lHjZtjQ3sf
— AlternateHistoryHub (@AltHistoryHub) June 3, 2020
While attending the protest, McCool said of Caesar:
"Caesar has no voice of his own but even more people don't have a voice, so he's here to represent the voiceless. The ones who feel left out in society and life."
Caesar has become a hugely important figure to these political movements, and people are here for it.
The llama is the key to ending racism.
— ZeroHS (@ZeroHS7) June 3, 2020
Ah yes, the llama, the universal symbol of peace, a man of culture
— Nobody_Of_Consequence (@No1dontmindme) June 3, 2020
You complete me.
— Julie Fogg (@juliefogg) June 4, 2020
Though it's unclear how many people were impacted by the use of tearglass, Caesar and his trainer came out unscathed.
If anything, this challenges any of us who participate in protests to make our presence there... a little more memorable next time.