In what may be a first for American Fork, more than a dozen protestors gathered outside Kentucky Fried Chicken on Saturday evening to protest the restaurant's treatment of chickens.

Braving bitter temperatures as the sun began to set, the protestors, all from Lone Peak High School, waved signs for more than three hours, encouraging would-be diners to boycott the restaurant.

The protest began at 4:30 p.m. and police showed up soon thereafter, called by KFC managers when the organizer of the protest, Jessica Zepeda, 16, of Cedar Hills, ran into the restaurant with a handful of literature from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and began booing. Managers demanded she leave, she said, and she complied.

Officer Jason Ruch of the American Fork police department told protestors they must not block the restaurant's driveway or go onto restaurant property.

"I think you guys are crazy," he added with a smile. "It's too cold."

Protestors responded by begging him not to eat at the restaurant in the future.

A KFC manager who came out when police arrived declined to be named or interviewed but later gave the Daily Herald a printed statement titled "PETA claims against KFC are not true."

KFC was the first to "adopt industry-leading guidelines and audits for the human raising and handling of poultry," according to the statement. Suppliers are subjected to unannounced audits and given "strict welfare guidelines developed by us with leading experts on our Animal Welfare Advisory Council."

The statement urged consumers to visit KFC.com for information.

The PETA protestors -- none of whom wore coats or gloves during the event, saying they had not expected it to be so cold -- handed out brochures provided by PETA stating that five of KFC's advisory council members quit in protest after the restaurant chain refused to implement even one of their suggestions.

The brochure contained quotes from Pope Benedict XVI, Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson, among others, decrying animal cruelty.

The group claims that "workers at a KFC Supplier of the Year slaughterhouse spat tobacco into birds' eyes, spray-painted their faces, slammed them against walls, and stomped them to death" and the restaurant chain still purchases from this supplier.

Zepeda said serendipity brought her to organize the protest. She happened to see a PETA ad on a Web site and followed it to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, where she watched undercover videos that the groups claims show abuses at KFC suppliers.

Disturbed, she showed the Web site to her mother, who encouraged her to act on her feelings. Zepeda joined PETA and organized the protest, and says she plans another protest at the company's corporate headquarters later this year and hopes more people will join her next time.

Response on Saturday was mixed, but far more passing cars honked in support than jeered. One veered toward the protestors to scare them.

Two of the protestors Alex Stulce, 14, and Wade Draper, 14, both of Highland, admitted they had eaten at the same restaurant hours earlier on Saturday, Stulce enjoying popcorn chicken. Both said they were protesting to support friends, and both said they had had a change of heart since lunch.

Two other protestors, on the other hand, joined at the last minute, pinched by their consciences, they said. Jordan Cormier, 17, and Maggie Millar, 16, said they had not planned to protest and were on their way to dinner to celebrate their one year anniversary as a couple but decided to abandon that plan and protest.

"This is a good way to spend our time together," Millar said.

Ariel Walus, 18, of Highland, said she became supportive of the cause after visiting the PETA protest Web site.

"It was really disgusting," she said of the video footage on KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. "It was sad. Animals should be treated nicely before they die. I really do care. I believe in rights for humans, animals and the environment."