A small group of animal rights protesters rushed the stage at a Bernie Sanders rally in Oakland, California, on Monday, briefly disrupting the event before they were subdued by Secret Service agents, according to news reports.   

The disturbance is the latest example of physical altercations at presidential campaign events this year, as candidates from both parties try to harness what has been frequently described as an unusual amount of anger in the American electorate.  

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Media reports alternately described four or five protesters storming the stage as Sanders spoke. A Secret Service agent moved Sanders away from the podium and wrapped his arms around the candidate until other agents could move the demonstrators away.   

Sanders then resumed his speech.   

“We don’t get intimidated easily,” he said.  

Animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere claimed responsibility for the protest, Reuters reported . The group said in a statement that it hoped to persuade Sanders to take a tough stance against factory farms.  

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A Georgia man was charged with disorderly conduct, among other charges, after he stormed the stage  at an Ohio rally for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in March, shouting, “Trump is a bully!” A Nevada woman was sentenced to a year of probation last year after she threw a shoe at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas in 2014. 

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