Nfter the raids on the “Last Generation” left-wing boss Martin Schirdewan took the climate activists under his protection. “Climate change is in full swing and we are approaching the ‘point of no return’,” said Schirdewan of the German Press Agency. “In this context, I find it bizarre when young people who are stuck on the streets are accused of forming a criminal organization.”
Using civil disobedience for one’s own beliefs is not organized crime. “I don’t think every action is good either, but I have to acknowledge that the forms of action have always been non-violent,” said the party chairman. “Against this background, house searches seem to be more aimed at breaking civil disobedience.”
Valves on pipelines turned off several times
On Tuesday, the public prosecutor’s office in Neuruppin, Brandenburg, launched raids in several federal states and accused a criminal organization. Eleven homes and rooms belonging to members of the “Last Generation” were searched. Attacks by climate activists on the PCK Schwedt refinery were the reason, the public prosecutor said.
In the summer, activists of the “last generation” had repeatedly turned off valves on pipelines and interrupted the flow of oil. For almost a year they have been blocking roads again and again and sticking themselves to it. There were also campaigns in museums, at airports, in stadiums or in ministries. The activists call for a radical change in climate and the move away from oil, coal and gas. Specifically, they want 100 km/h on the autobahn and a permanent nine-euro ticket.
After the raid, dozens of people in Berlin showed solidarity with the members of the “last generation”. A demonstration against police violence that had been registered at Kottbusser Tor was used for this without further ado. According to the observations of a dpa reporter, around 100 demonstrators from the left-wing autonomous scene, dressed in black and partly masked, took part. They carried a large banner that read, “Police everywhere. Justice nowhere”.
According to the dpa reporter, around 50 people from the camp of the climate demonstrators took part, many wearing orange vests. A spokesman for the climate protesters thanked them for organizing the demonstration. At the same time he called for non-violence. “The criminalization of peaceful protest is an attack on all of us,” said the spokeswoman for the group “Last Generation”, Carla Hinrichs, about the climate activists’ participation in the event.
The police spoke of a total of 150 participants at the top. Numerous police officers were on site. Overall, it was quiet, said a police spokesman after the end of the demonstration. However, there were several “anti-police chants”.
