Organizers cancel ‘die-in’ protest at Disney

TALLAHASSEE – Tourists planning an Orlando theme park trip don’t have to worry about stepping around sprawled-out activists after all.

A “die-in” protest at an unspecified Walt Disney Co. property initially planned for June has been called off, a co-founder of a gun control advocacy group said Monday.

“People were saying ‘you’re going to traumatize children,’” said Nurah Abdulhaqq, a Georgia teen who helped start the group, called National Die In. She said she feared a public backlash if the group went forward with the protest.

The “die-in,” during which activists would pose as corpses on the ground, was originally designed to draw attention to Disney’s large donations to a political committee supporting Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor. The protesters were alarmed over Putnam’s support for the NRA and bills to ease gun laws.

Putnam has backed bills to allow concealed carry license holders to carry firearms on college campuses and to carry openly in public. Both bills were backed by the National Rifle Association but failed to make it into law. After a newspaper columnist called him an “NRA sellout” in 2017, he leaned into the insult saying he was a “proud NRA sellout,” upsetting many gun control activists.

The comment came more than a year after the massacre at the Orlando Pulse nightclub left 49 dead and dozens more wounded. But it was the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, in which 17 students and faculty died, that has galvanized gun control advocates, sparking marches, protests and demands for new gun restrictions.

The fervor has also brought newfound scrutiny of campaign donations to politicians backed by the NRA, which gun control activists blame for thwarting their push for stricter laws.

After similar die-in protests at its stores in Orlando and throughout the rest of the state in May, Publix announced it would suspend political donations. The protests were spurred by reports Publix had given $670,000 to Putnam’s committee since 2015.

Disney has given $739,000 to Florida Grown, Putnam’s political committee, since 2015, including $300,000 since the Parkland massacre.

A spokeswoman for Disney declined to comment and didn’t respond when asked if the episode had altered the company’s outlook on political donations

National Die In hinted at their plans earlier this month, posting on Twitter that “D is for die-in” with a picture of the iconic “D” in Disney’s logo.

Even though those plans have now been halted, Abdulhaqq said the group still plans to put pressure on Disney, by using email and phone campaigns urging the company to quit donating to Putnam and other NRAsupported politicians.