Friday, May 10, 2024

Tesla's expansion plans in Germany prompt clash between protesters, police

By Ehren Wynder

Police officers restrain environmental activists during a protest against Tesla's plans to extend its Gigafactory plant in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, on Friday. 
Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE

May 10 (UPI) -- Climate activists protesting the expansion Tesla's Brandenburg factory in Germany clashed with police after some attempted to storm the factory grounds on Friday.

Disrupt, a coalition of self-declared anti-capitalist groups, said in a statement on its website that about 800 activists showed up at the Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory on Friday as part of the Disrupt Tesla Action Days.

The group said the intention of the demonstration was "not to stop production for a weekend, but rather to prevent the factory expansion and initiate a traffic turnaround."

Brandenburg police in a release said some protesters attempted to break into the facility.

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"As they were in the immediate vicinity of the Deutsche Bahn railroad tracks at the time and partially entered them, rail traffic between Erkner and Fürstenwalde had to be temporarily stopped," the statement read.

Officers said they prevented the group from entering the Tesla grounds and arrested 16 people. Several people were injured, including 21 police officers.

Disrupt spokesperson Ole Becker told CNN the "unfortunate" police violence marred an otherwise good day for the activists.

"I saw a lot of injured people ... I have seen things today which I haven't seen for many years," Becker said.

Activists on Monday began setting up camp near the grounds of the Brandenburg plant, with participation growing up to its peak on Thursday, according to police.

Tesla shut down the factory Friday in anticipation of the protests. André Thierig, a senior manufacturing director, posted on X Tuesday that the factory would take a "one-day planned production shutdown."

Climate protesters opposed Tesla's expansion plans, which involve clearing about 250 acres of forest near a nature conservation area.

The plan includes a rail freight depot and storage facilities that would help Tesla's only European factory avoid reliance on third-party logistics and avoid production delays due to parts shortages.

Activists argued the expansion would also disrupt the local water supply.

Residents of the Grünheide municipality of Brandenburg in February voted down the proposed factory expansion, but because the vote was non-binding, Tesla and local officials pushed ahead with the project.

"The Gründheiders see how their vote is being circumvented and answered with deceptive packages," Disrupt spokesperson Lucia Mende said in a statement. "At the same time, a region is sold out to an openly right-wing entrepreneur. Instead of courting Elon Musk, politicians should implement democratic votes and referendums."




Tesla CEO Elon Musk has lashed out at protesters against his Brandenburg factory in the past. In a March post on X, he called activists "either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth" or "puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals."


Eight hundred protesters attempt to storm German Tesla factory

Demonstrators opposed to expansion of factory near Berlin claim it would damage environment



Kari Paul and agencies
Fri 10 May 2024 
THE GUARDIAN


Hundreds of protesters opposed to the expansion of a Tesla plant in Grünheide, near Berlin, clashed with police on Friday as some of them attempted to storm the electric vehicle manufacturing facility.

About 800 people took part in the protest, according to the organizing group Disrupt Tesla, which claims the expansion would damage the environment. Tesla has attracted intense backlash since the company opened the factory in March 2022, and later announced plans to expand into a nearby forest to increase its production capability.

In February, the town where the factory is located voted against the plans in a referendum that was not legally binding. Since then, protesters have been stationed in an encampment nearby in protest. The same facility was shut down for a week in March after suspected arson disabled its power. A separate protest collective called Volcano Group claimed responsibility for the fire, calling for the “complete destruction of the gigafactory”.



Video of Friday’s action showed dozens of people wearing blue caps and masks coming from a nearby wooded area and attempting to storm the company’s premises with police officers trying to prevent them, including by force. At least one protester was detained.

“Why do the police let the leftwing protestors off so easily?” the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, wrote on his social medial platform X, adding that the demonstrators did not manage to break through. Tesla, which dissolved its press department in 2020, did not respond to request for comment.

The group also wants to highlight environmental destruction in countries such as Argentina or Bolivia brought about by lithium mining, according to a Disrupt Tesla spokesperson, Ole Becker. Lithium is a key resource for electric vehicle batteries.

“We are here today to draw attention to the Tesla factory in Grünheide for the environmental destruction here,” Becker told Reuters.

The police confirmed that the protesters tried to enter the plant’s premises, but were stopped, with several people taken into custody, and that it received a few reports of injuries.

“We protect the freedom of assembly,” said a Brandenburg police spokesperson, Mario Heinemann, “but we are also responsible for public order and safety. That means we will also intervene when necessary.”

Some of the demonstrators damaged a few Tesla cars using pyrotechnics and paint at a nearby car storage site, the police spokesperson added.

Tesla earlier this week said it would shut the factory for one day on Friday, without specifying a reason.

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