A staged activist event orchestrated early Monday morning caused a box truck full of baby chickens owned by an Eastern Iowa chicken farmer to be released in Iowa City. Frank Farmer, 64, was driving his truck to the downtown Iowa City farmer’s market when a pedestrian fell off his skateboard in front of the vehicle while it was stopped at a red light at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Clinton Street. Farmer turned on his hazard lights and stepped out of the truck in an attempt to help the man, and a nearby woman opened the back of the truck, proceeding to free the chicks from their cages. The chicks were released onto the lawn of the Pentacrest, the old Capitol building, at the University of Iowa. Once Farmer realized the chicks had been freed,…show more content… The two are believed to be in a relationship. “I think this was an unfortunate and ineffective way for them to get their message across,” said Farmer. He is a third-generation chicken farmer, well known by local farmer’s markets for his organization “Frank’s Chicken Farm.” He prides himself on running a business that is “ethical and cruelty-free.” Lawrence Law, Iowa City Police Department chief, issued a statement about the scene at midday, saying Manbun and Moonbeam were apprehended “roughly two blocks east” of where the disturbance took place, at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Linn Street. “I’ve seen some crazy things in my years of police work but never thought I’d see people scrambling on the Pentacrest to round up a bunch of fluffy, yellow baby chickens.” He also thanked the Iowa City Animal Services for helping gather the chicks after they had been released. It is estimated that approximately 12 chicks were killed in the incident. Following the occurrence, a GoFundMe fundraiser was produced in order to assist farmers with recovering the costs of lost birds and
