Hundreds of climate protesters angry about environmental impact Tesla’s Manufacturing factory in Grünheide, Germany broke through police lines and attacked the only factory in Europe Gigafactory Friday, according to multiple reports. Social media. According to local reports in Germany, the protesters were stopped by a fence and unable to enter the factory. D.W. People are reporting being arrested. It’s not yet clear how many.
Demonstrators first protested over deforestation at the Tesla factory on the outskirts of Berlin when it was first built in 2020. Protests began again earlier this year when the Tesla factory applied to clear 170 more acres for expansion.
“We are here today to draw attention to the Tesla factory in Grünheide about the environmental damage in Grünheide,” Disrupt Tesla spokesperson Ole Becker said on Friday, according to DW. said.
“But so is the environmental destruction in countries such as: Argentina or BoliviaThe lithium needed for these batteries is being mined there, causing severe environmental damage not only to the people there but also to the environment,” Becker continued.
Protest organizers said 800 people were in attendance Friday, but it was unclear how many actually stormed the building because there were multiple protest sites.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday tried to trivialize the protests by calling the report “fake news,” though it’s not entirely clear what he was calling fake news.
“This is fake news. The protesters couldn’t break through the fence line,” Musk said. said in XAlthough no one claimed that the fence was broken.
“There are still two intact fences left around the perimeter. Please note that this year is ‘National Protest Week’ in Germany, so there are many protests taking place for various reasons,” he said. continued.
an anarchist group called volcanic group He was credited with cutting off power to the Tesla factory in Germany in March. But it’s not clear whether Friday’s protests achieved anything that concrete.
A video posted to X by the account brake Hundreds of people were shown running towards the factory, many wearing black clothing. An Associated Press photo shows signs reading “Stop Tesla, water is life” and “End neocolonialism.”
But the most colorful banner available in the slideshow reads, “Elon du Lachs verpiss dich zum Mars!” This apparently means something like “Elon, you salmon, go to Mars!” Or, “Elon, you son of a bitch…” We don’t speak German, but when we crowdsourced translations on Bluesky, we got a surprisingly diverse range of answers. explanation.
Click through the slideshow to see more photos from today’s protests in Germany.
