Several people attending a furry convention last weekend rushed to the aid of a woman being assaulted by her boyfriend, restraining him until law enforcement arrived.
The incident occurred at the annual Further Confusion (FurCon) convention in San Jose, California, on Friday, January 17, with six people witnessing the assault.
Witnesses said the man was assaulting a woman in a car outside the event, punching and hitting her repeatedly before two heroic furries stepped in and pulled the man out of the car.
You can watch the incident unfold below:
According to 26-year-old Robbie Ryans, who was working as a DJ for the convention and was one of the men who restrained the attacker, four other people who were attending FurCon then joined in and helped restrain him.
Ryans told CNN they decided to intervene after hearing a woman’s screams coming from inside the car. It was then they saw the passenger ‘throwing full fists’ at the driver.
He said:
We got up and ran towards the car, my friend pulled open the door and we both held onto the attacker. The girl driver was yelling for him to get out, as he started trying to fight us off.
Once he felt everything was under control, the DJ said he removed himself from the situation and began filming what was happening. He then posted the video to Twitter.
Ryans said everything happened so fast he still ‘can’t believe it’, adding: ‘It was a horrible sight to see. Afterwards we were very shaken up but relieved.’
According to a San Jose Police Department report, the suspect, 22-year-old Demetri Hardnett, allegedly assaulted his girlfriend in their shared car.
Hardnett was arrested at the scene before being taken to Santa Clara County Jail and charged with domestic violence. Ryans said he’s ‘so glad everything worked out in the end’.
For those of you wondering what furries are, they are people with an interest in anthropomorphised animals – animals who have been given human characteristics – who often create an animal character (fursona) for themselves, with whom they identify and can function as an avatar within the community.
Events such as FurCon allow members of the furry community to meet up with their friends, go to discussion panels and maybe even see a show. A common misconception about furries is that the community is simply for those with sexual fetishes – it’s not.
While there are sexual themes present for some, the sexual aspect of the fandom is often exaggerated, with most furries simply enjoying interacting with other fans.
Thankfully this group of furries were around to save the day.
What a group of heroes!
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).