Anger at last generation
Berlin drivers kick climate activists
05/19/2023 12:32 p.m
Once again, last-generation activists are blocking traffic in the capital. Some motorists can’t control their anger and become violent towards the group. Meanwhile, other members are protesting in steel chains in front of the Neuruppin public prosecutor’s office.
Motorists in Berlin have used violence against activists from the climate group Last Generation. According to a press photographer who was present, they dragged protesters on the A100 near the Kurfürstenstraße exit in the morning, hit them and kicked them to prevent them from sticking. In total, activists from the last generation blocked traffic at a total of eleven locations in Berlin in the morning, according to the police.
On Thursday, activists of the last generation had already protested at 14 locations in Berlin for stronger political measures against climate change. According to the climate group, the blockades were deliberately aimed at hindering holiday traffic out of the city.
“We really don’t enjoy being yelled at and dragged away by motorists,” the group wrote on Twitter. “But the government’s negligence in the face of the threat of crop failure, war and social upheaval is forcing us to take to the streets.” The activists are calling for a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour on German autobahns and a permanent 9-euro ticket for buses and trains as immediate measures against the impending “climate collapse”.
Six members put on steel chains to protest against the initial suspicion of their group before the Neuruppin public prosecutor’s office.
(Photo: Last Generation)
In Neuruppin, the group protested against investigations into the initial suspicion of forming a criminal organization. Six members stated that they were wearing steel chains in front of the public prosecutor’s office. The members wanted to symbolically hand themselves over to the authorities. Spokeswoman Lina Johnson said: “The criminal association section is there to discourage serious crime, not peaceful civil disobedience that requires the government to abide by the law.”
The public prosecutor’s office in Neuruppin is investigating the initial suspicion of forming a criminal organization and disrupting public services. According to the authority, the background is, among other things, attacks by climate activists since April 2022 on plants at the PCK Schwedt refinery. The district court in Potsdam had dismissed a complaint about a major raid against members of the climate protection group and confirmed the initial suspicion of the formation of a criminal organization. However, the public prosecutor’s office in Berlin does not consider such investigations to be justified.