Berlin: Police protect climate activists from driver anger

There were protests in Berlin again on Friday. Officials separated the street blockers with plastic barriers from angry drivers.

Now the climate activists of the "Last Generation" are back at the politicians: on Friday afternoon, five of them blocked the SPD headquarters on Wilhelmstrasse.

In addition, the self-appointed environmentalists smeared the facade of the Willy Brandt House. Apparently they wanted to make the SPD the focus of their protest in order to urge Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64, SPD) to hurry to phase out fossil fuel combustion engines.

In addition, the protest actions continued on Friday, especially in City West: Climate activists glued to the ground at five exits along the city highway to block traffic. The police counted 30 activists from “Last Generation”.

Because angry drivers are becoming more aggressive, the police set up a barrier between blockers and vehicles on Messedamm!

Police statement: "The colleagues wanted to prevent the glued demonstrators from being run over and to signal to the drivers that a police operation was taking place here."

At the same time, the blockades started at 8 a.m. on the feeder roads Messedamm-Süd, Kaiserdamm, Spandauer Damm, Knobelsdorffstraße and Neue Kantstraße/Messedamm. As a result there were thousands of drivers in rush-hour traffic in provoked traffic jams.

More and more self-justice
The anger and indignation among drivers was correspondingly high - the climate activists were insulted and threatened.

And the vehicle owners are now increasingly resorting to vigilante justice: some of the activists were detached from the road by drivers and carried to the edge of the roadway.

The activists, for their part, make themselves punishable by blocking coercion.

But clearing the streets is still a matter for the police: "Our colleagues were on site quickly and gradually removed the activists from the road," said a police spokeswoman.

The police union (GdP) sees the intervention of drivers in road blockades critical. "We are already observing that the lack of understanding about the form of the protest is increasing," said GdP spokesman Benjamin Jendro. "A dangerous development."

Source: BZ