Conflict with police foreseeable
Anti-Tesla activists ignore requirements
March 16, 2024, 1:32 p.m
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So far, activists have been camping peacefully in the forest next to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg. They want to prevent further areas from being cleared. However, the demonstrators ignore police requirements. The situation could escalate on Monday.
In the protest camp at the Tesla factory in Grünheide, a conflict is emerging between the activists and the police. After the meeting was extended until next Thursday under strict conditions, some of the people in the forest camp did not adhere to the meeting authority’s conditions on the first day after the extension. So some slept in the tree houses on Saturday night. The assembly authorities had banned this due to security concerns.
A spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative also said they did not want to comply with the demand to dismantle the tree houses by Monday. The tree houses are an elementary part of their protest. According to the Interior Ministry, the activists have until Monday to dismantle the tree houses; otherwise, this would be seen as a violation of the requirements, according to Interior Minister Michael Stübgen. The protest camp could then be evacuated.
The activists’ goal is to prevent the forest from being cleared as part of a planned expansion of the Tesla site with a freight station. They have been occupying a forest area for several weeks. A majority of the citizens of Grünheide voted against expanding the factory. In the conflict, the municipality of Grünheide suggests that only about half of the forest be cleared. The spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative announced that she wanted to take action against the requirements. An urgent application against the requirements has been filed with the administrative court in Potsdam. This application also calls for the conditions to be postponed. According to its own statements, the initiative does not expect any eviction until a decision has been made on the urgent application.
Meanwhile, residents of the forest camp are counting on growing support. More and more people are currently joining the protest, said the spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative. Of course we try to mobilize people. This is nothing unusual at a demonstration, said the spokeswoman. According to the initiative on Friday evening, “60 to 80 people” are occupying part of the state forest in Brandenburg near the Tesla factory, which Elon Musk’s company wants to clear in the event of an expansion of its site.
Concern about “Lützerath of the East”
According to his own statements, Interior Minister Stübgen noticed increasing radicalization among some participants around the camp. Many of those involved dreamed of a “Lützerath of the East,” said the Interior Minister on Friday. They wanted a “European center against eco-fascism”. The minister also announced that he would “significantly increase” the police presence in the area around the plant. It’s about preventing possible attacks on Tesla and deterring “previously uninterested, violent” people who now feel motivated to come to Brandenburg. “Leave it alone, it’s not worth it,” said Stübgen.
The activists had registered the camp as a political meeting like a demonstration. Such events are subject to the right of assembly and do not require special approval from the police. However, they can be prohibited or subject to conditions under certain circumstances. In the event of long-term occupation of the forest, nature and species protection concerns must also be examined, said Stübgen.
The factory of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has been in the headlines for some time. On Tuesday last week, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field in eastern Brandenburg, which also ensures the supply to the car factory in Grünheide. This brought production at the plant to a standstill for days. The far-left Vulcan group said it was responsible for the attack. According to the company, around 12,500 people currently work in the factory in Grünheide. The factory opened in March 2022.