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Something Stinks In Philadelphia As DNC ‘Fart-In’ Preparations Continue

By Tylie Eaves
Published on: 03:46 PST, Jul 26, 2016

Just when you think you’ve seen (or maybe the better word is smelled) everything there is to see in a presidential campaign, someone comes along and adds flatulence to the mix. About a month ago, people started planning a fart-in for the Democratic National Convention. While the plans made news, they didn’t insight that much excitement until after the protests set for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland proved to be less than riveting.

Now, according to NPR, protesters are kicking things up a notch with the use of creativity and noxious gasses.

Demonstrations are underway in Philly, where the DNC erected a four-mile, eight-foot-tall fence around its convention site at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. One can only assume the fence was erected to keep average Joes off convention grounds, but perhaps DNC officials are also hoping to keep gas-toting colons as far away from leadership as possible. But, the fence hasn’t stopped protesters from descending on Philadelphia to let their feelings be known one way or another.

At the core of the fart-in is a woman named Cheri Honkala, who is an activist with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. Her group has actually gathered cases of beans at her office and plans to hand them out to protesters on the last night of the convention. The last night of the convention, July 28, will mark the night that Hillary Clinton accepts her party’s nomination, and Honkala’s group thinks that it will also mark the best night to let the farts fly.

“We thought that this process really stinks,” Honkala says. “So we decided to organize a national fart-in.”

Honkala doesn’t like the fact that only two political parties dominate American politics.

A total of 28 permits were issued for protests during the convention. Six of those permits belong to a man named Billy Taylor, a Sanders supporter who runs his operation out of a warehouse on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where group members have posted as many “Bernie for President” signs as they can. Originally, Bernie Sanders’ supporters wanted the warehouse to be a local Sanders’ campaign office, but the warehouse now hosts a group called Philly.FYI.

Billy Taylor acts as the group’s executive director. Upon learning that the city would be providing permits on a first-come-first-serve basis only, he took action and booked as many as possible. Taylor claims he did this to allow the Sanders campaign to have them if they wanted them.

“And there was another reason as well,” he says. “I wanted to stop any Hillary supporters from obtaining permits.”

The last time one of the nation’s primary political parties held its convention in Philadelphia was when George W. Bush was nominated by the Republicans in 2000. In preparation for that convention, Philadelphia police acted aggressively. The police department utilized undercover officers to infiltrate protest groups, raided a workshop where protesters constructed props for marches, and even made hundreds of arrests.

Richard Ross, the current police commissioner, told reporters that police “don’t really have an interest in criminalizing a bunch of people who are out peacefully protesting” this time around.

The city is cooperating with protesters and has relaxed some of its ordinances. In anticipation of the convention, crimes like disorderly conduct will be subject to a citation instead of an arrest. Ross has also confirmed that police will not wear riot gear as long as things progress peacefully.

If you want to get in on the action, don’t hold back. The fart-in is a national event. You can also join the convention via live stream using the link below.

[Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images]

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