The Cereal Café in Shoreditch became the target of anti-gentrification protests this weekend, as around 200 angry masked people, aggressively brandishing fire-lit torches, threw paint over the windows as customers sat inside.
"There were children there - they were terrified," said Cereal Café owner Alan Keery. "The staff were absolutely terrified. It was an angry mob throwing paint at the windows. They had torches and pigs' heads.
"I think it's an absolute joke, a bunch of people attacking us," he added. "We're a small business. There's other big chain places around Shoreditch - me and my brother started a business out of absolutely nothing and we're trying to grow it."
The police were called and the crowd (or the #FuckParade as they call themselves - edgy) quickly dissipated, but we can't help but think cereal is not the issue here. Anyway, Twitter users are confused as we are about why a small business was targeted as the poster boys of gentrification.
We'd like to leave the following Twitter reactions below, but before we do, let us all remember that cereal never killed or harmed anyone. Although we did once read about a woman who was reported to the police for driving while eating cereal. Don't try that at home kids. But maybe, there are other reasons for gentrification and more impactful, better-targeted ways to show dissatisfaction:
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What next? Burning men with beards? We hope not.
