Paris: Police removes climate activists glued to the road

A sister organization of the Last Generation blocked the freeway in Paris. On Saturday, eleven young men and women sat down near the Porte d'Italie on the Boulevard périphérique. Some of them glued their hands to the street. The French police reacted immediately and sent a special unit. The respective activists of the group "Dernière Rénovation" were taken off the road, and after about 20 minutes the traffic rolled again. This is reported by the AFP news agency, and a video of the operation is also circulating online.

A video shows how the group climbs over a barrier onto the highway, which asks drivers to stop with hand signals and unrolls a banner. The activists then sit down on the street, some of them hurriedly sticking their hands on the street. Then the police come. According to AFP, this is the Brigade for the Suppression of Violent Actions (BRAV).

This unit is mainly used during demonstrations, the police officers are feared in Paris and are considered ruthless. The video also shows how the emergency services ask the participants in the climate protest if they want to get up. When they say no, they are lifted up and carried away without further questions.

Paris police send special unit
At least one of the women visible in the video glued her hand to the street, but that didn't stop the police from evicting her. A man in uniform grabs the woman's wrist and gives it a sharp tug. He says: "Hop!" On the video you can clearly hear how the adhesive comes off with a rattling noise, the woman groans audibly. While she then holds her hand with a pained face and looks at it in disbelief, the policeman says to a colleague: "Yes, that doesn't really stick well, that's tar. The glue doesn't stick to tar.”

Intervention de la BRAVM qui décolle les mains des militants @derniere_renov

Ils avaient utilisés de la colle forte pour empêcher la police de les déloger du périphérique.

Aucun militant ne semble blessé. https://t.co/LvmutRprq9 pic.twitter.com/0hQWigUeFG

— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) June 25, 2022

"Stop the theatre!"
He then pulls the hand of another activist from the street, which is obviously not glued. Nevertheless, the demonstrator throws himself on his back and yells several times: "My hand, my hand! That hurts so much!” The policeman is not impressed and says in a calm voice to the other policemen: “He has nothing, everything is fine, he has nothing.” Then he speaks to the still screaming activist and says to him in a calm voice: "Quit the fuss, monsieur!"

A few minutes later, the city highway is cleared and traffic is moving again. At least two of the climate activists are being treated in an ambulance immediately after the eviction. It is still unclear what legal consequences the group faces. According to local information, they were all initially arrested. AFP tells one of the protesters that he "doesn't want to be here at all, but it's necessary". A fellow campaigner adds: "You can understand that the drivers are annoyed, but we do it for them too."

“It takes incredible determination to sit on the ring road and once the police arrive they stick to the tarmac to hold out for as long as possible! Thank you to the 11 citizens who spent the weekend in police custody and are returning to work on Monday.”

Source: Berliner Zeitung