San Francisco, Jun 2 (IANS): An animal rights protester jumped onto a stage and grabbed a microphone from Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris at a forum here.

Approximately 10 minutes into her speech at MoveOn's Big Ideas Forum on Saturday, Harris was asked about her proposal to address the gender pay gap by the event's moderatorwhen she was approached by a tall man dressed in black and wearing a press badge who jumped on the stage, reports CNN.

Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, appeared puzzled but remained calm as the protester grabbed the mic from her hand.

"We were protesting just a few minutes ago asking for your attention to a much bigger idea ...," the man said, as the moderator tried to intervene.

Security jumped onto the stage as the Senator calmly walked away from the protester.

As the man resisted leaving the stage, Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff jumped in and wrestled the microphone from the protester.

The protestor was removed from the event and not charged.

After the incident, Senator Cory Booker, who is also a contender in the presidential race, told CNN he watched the video and couldn't believe what happened to his colleague.

"He crossed a line, this election's going to go on and I'm really hoping that we see Secret Service and others begin to step in because that really could have been a horrifying moment. Kamala's like a sister to me, I love her and that makes me very upset," he added.