WATCH: Confederate flag waving pig wrestlers toss animal rights activist over a fence

Professional pig wrestlers with Confederate flags may face assault charges after attacking animal rights activists at the Utah County Fair on Wednesday.

According to KUTV, the Utah County Fair has allowed children as young as 5 years old to wrestle pigs for several years now. On Wednesday, KUTV's Chris Jones visited the fair to ask the pig wrestlers about animal rights activists who had been protesting the event.

Jones pointed out to pig wrestling spokesperson Brody Steele they were creating controversy by "pig wrestling and flying the Confederate flag."

"We were joking about it the other day," Steele recalled as he rolled up his Confederate flag. "People were calling us racist animal abusers."

According to Steele, the pigs enjoyed the process of being wrestled and then dumped in a barrel. And he said that the pigs would probably choose to wrestle people instead of running away if they were given a choice.

"I mean, they hurt us more than we hurt the pigs," Steele insisted.

However, protesters at the fair argued that pig wrestling amounted to abuse because the animals were as intelligent as a 4-year-old child.

Before the evening was over, the protesters briefly shut down the pig wrestling attraction. Video of the confrontation showed one of the pig wrestlers tossing an animal activist over a fence and out of the pig wrestling cage. Another protester was reportedly shoved.

Jones noted that the men could face assault charges for attacking the protesters.

Watch the video below from KUTV, broadcast Aug. 13, 2015.