German motorists and air travelers face massive disruptions as climate activists glue themselves to roads and airport runways. The nationwide campaign has been launched by the climate-extremist group “Last Generation,” which has staged similar protests in Germany and other European countries.
“Climate activists of the Last Generation disrupted traffic in several German cities by blockading key routes. In cities such as Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden and Braunschweig, the protesters glued themselves to the road on Friday,” German newspaper Die Welt reported Friday. “According to the Last Generation, at least 36 sit-ins have been planned in 26 cities across Germany.”
Much like such protests in the past, the climate agitation resulted in road accidents, Die Welt further reported:
A motorist in Nuremberg was injured during a traffic jam as a result of a blockade of Autobahn-73. According to the police, the 31-year-old failed to see the trailer of a truck in time [as he approached] the traffic jam and was trapped with his vehicle under the trailer. The police did not provide initial information on the extent of the injuries.An 18-year-old activist from the “Last Generation” was reportedly hurt early morning at a roadblock in Bottrop. According to her statement, she got injured when she was dragged off the road by a man, a police spokeswoman said. According to the police, the traffic was significantly impacted for a while.
On Thursday, climate militants glued themselves to the airport runways in Hamburg and Düsseldorf disrupting the air traffic as holiday season begins in Germany.
“At the beginning of the holiday season in Hamburg, the climate activists of the ‘Last Generation’ glued themselves on to the tarmac at the (city) airport and disrupted air traffic operations for several hours,” German public broadcaster Tagesschau reported Thursday. “In Düsseldorf, the members of the ‘Last Generation’ also glued themselves at the airport. According to their own statement, the activists cut through a fence to get to the apron of the airfield.”
Germany’s state-owned DW TV reported the group’s hysterical protest in Berlin on Friday:
Activists from Germany’s Last Generation (Letzte Generation) climate protest group protested at one of Berlin’s most iconic intersections during the morning rush hour on Friday, with other actions planned across the city and the rest of Germany.The campaigners, who claim the government has broken its own laws on climate change, wore masks depicting senior politicians.Activists took to the roundabout around the city’s Victory Column — regularly used as a stage for weekend climate protests — and glued themselves to roads leading from it.The so-called Grosser Stern (Great Star) intersection is a key rush-hour hub. Some motorists drove off the road to avoid the protesters and continue their journeys. Traffic resumed fully about an hour after the sit-in began.Some activists posed government figures including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economics and Climate Change Minister Robert Habeck, and Transport Minister Volker Wissing. They held banners that read: “We’re breaking the law.”
In southern German city of Karlsruhe, the protest almost turned bloody when a car rolled over the hand of a glued activist, causing slight injuries. “As a car tried to drive past, it ran over the activist’s hand. According to a witness, she also hit her head on the car. The car fled and the activist received medical attention,” the German public broadcaster SWR reported.
The German police are now looking for the driver. “When asked by SWR, the ‘Last Generation’ said that the activist was doing well. The police are on the look-out for the car,” the broadcaster added.
The Europe-based Last Generation, which also has a U.S. chapter, purports to be the “last generation” of humans on earth. The cult-like group makes hysterical claims about the future. On their homepage, the Last Generation quotes UN chief António Guterres: “We have the choice: Collective action or collective suicide.” Humanity “still have two to three years in which we can leave the fossil-fuel path of annihilation,” the group prophesies.
The group, with its ever increasing militancy, is becoming a serious security threat to Germany. In May, German police conducted raids against the members of the outfit. “The raids were ordered in an investigation targeting seven people aged 22 to 38 over suspicions of ‘forming or supporting a criminal organisation’, said a joint statement by Bavaria’s police and prosecutors,” the TV channel France24 reported in May 24. “Fifteen properties were searched, two accounts seized and an asset freeze ordered.”
[Excerpts from German media reports translated by author]
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