Greta Thunberg, the Swedish voice behind new-wave environmentalism, was detained recently by German police at a protest against a coal mine’s expansion.
Said protest took place a few kilometers from Luetzerath village where protestors stood and sat against the agenda.
According to Daily Maverick, the group was warned that they’d be forcefully removed if they didn’t relocate from the mine’s edge where the sit-in protest occurred.
According to an Aachen police spokesperson, Thunberg was carried by police after she and other group members failed to comply when asked to move.
She was briefly detained and later identified, which spurred her release, per CNN.
Thunberg has since taken to Twitter to share the experience, which some deemed a violent effort from German police.
Noch nie in Deutschland so eine Polizeigewalt gesehen wie gerade vor #Luetzerath #LuetzerathUnraeumbar pic.twitter.com/LYSQNANPtY
— Raphael Thelen (@RaphaelThelen) January 14, 2023
“Never seen such police violence in Germany as just before,” the tweet reads in English.
Of her detainment, she shared:
Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening.
Climate protection is not a crime.#LuetziBleibt #LuetziLebt #KeepItInTheGround #ClimateJustice
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 18, 2023
According to government per the BBC, the mine’s expansion and Luetzerath’s demolishing was said to be necessary to keep up with energy demands “as it deals with the interruption of gas from Russia.”
Other reports share that the demolition of that specific village saved five others from the same fate and spur a “faster exit from coal.”
However, activists shared the sentiment that lignite and coal mining need to be stopped entirely, and weren’t necessarily buying the reasons for expansion.
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