General Mills protester Michael Leisner documented the contrasts in how bigoted protesters differ from those who perform peaceful boycotts of businesses they do not support. A viral YouTube video shows Leisner setting fire to a box of Cheerios in front of a sign emblazoned with the famous food brand's logo, and the cereal fire quickly spread into a fire on the lawn of the business. Along with his giggling camera wielding cohorts, Leisiner fled the scene, leaving the fire to spread.
Fortunately the General Mills property didn't suffer any real damage, but the point isn't about whether or not the damage was substantial. The point being made here is that the bigoted types who speak out against equality for same-sex couples obviously don't hold their actions to the same standards they expect of same-sex marriage supporters. These are the same people who boycott such brands and businesses as Oreo, JC Penney and Target for supporting the rights of homosexuals, but then speak out the other sides of their necks to chastise those who boycott places like Chick-fil-A for donating money to hate groups that support the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.
No word yet on whether or not Michael Leisner has been visited by police over this lawn fire, but he should definitely face charges for this. This was not a peaceful protest, nor was it a boycott of any type. This was a display of idiocy by some moron who's known for spewing hatred toward the LBGT community in YouTube videos. He could have very easily destroyed thousands of dollars worth of property while putting lives in danger. Simply because "he thought the grass was wet enough" to extinguish the fire, doesn't make him exempt from the same laws everyone else must follow.
All this guy achieved was proving the obvious; that these anti-rights crowds are hypocrites. He showed that these people who literally hate millions of people in the U.S. think it's okay to do some downright idiotic things in the name of their ideals. However, if you support gays and don't want to buy food from Chick-fil-A, you're stifling some religious bigot's right to free speech?
It should be understood that not all bigots burn things or commit stupid acts on camera. However, all bigots spew the same nonsense against the rights of groups of people who differ in what they think is "right." This ignorance and hatred always results in the breaking of laws by extremists. You never see gay rights advocates burning down lawns. Nuff said.
Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.
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Comments: 8
P.s. -- I figured his "lisp" was because he's damn near toothless :P
I want to believe he's a parody. I really do, but really I've met people as dumb acting as this guy, so it's hard to believe either way.
In his other videos on YouTube (some of which may still be viewable via mirrored videos), he was clearly not serious. For example, in one he argued that Christians should be drunk on alcohol all the time because of a couple verses he ripped out of context.
His claims of being a "former radio preacher" are without evidence. What radio station? He doesn't say because one call to any radio station he could mention would debunk his claim.
There's a newer video of the stunt which includes brief footage of the props -- stool, bowl, Cheerios and torch -- being removed from their car's trunk. The younger man mentions that the bowl already smells like burned plastic, indicating that they practiced this before they got to General Mills' property. They knew exactly what was going to happen, debunking the idea that the Cheerios bursting into flame surprised them.
I highly doubt you'd know any of my hillbilly family members =-p
I don't think any of the things you've mentioned proves he's a parody. I'm still left believing the guy's just an idiot.
Idiots do/say idiotic things.
I found it odd that the commenter expected me to name people I know IRL that are (seemingly) as stupid as this guy. Like none of us have ever met someone with callouses on their knuckles (from dragging them) and surely we all don't know the same people.
I'd venture to say the commenter has some sort of ax to grind and isn't behaving in the most stable manner.