Attack on Tesla: An extremism expert considers the volcano group to be that dangerous

analysis

Attack on Tesla
Left-wing extremist, militant – and dangerous? This is the “volcano group”

The left-wing extremist association claims the attack on the Gigafactory in Brandenburg as their own. Expert Felix Neumann believes it will not be the last action of this kind.

It is not the first time that the “volcano group” carried out an attack on Tesla. As early as May 2021, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Gigafactory site’s power supply – even before the factory was opened. But the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and experts like Felix Neumann from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation The left-wing extremist group has been a household name for a long time. It was founded in 2011 and also takes place in “Constitutional Protection Report of the State of Brandenburg 2021” Mention. “The group belongs to the left-wing extremist spectrum,” says Neumann. “A word analysis of the letters of confession from the ‘Vulcan Group’ by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has shown that the group is anarchist.” The goals primarily include aspects related to climate change and the climate crisis, said Neumann.

It is difficult to estimate how large the “volcano group” is. “The authorities don’t know anything about the number or structure of members,” says the expert. “At least they haven’t published anything about it.” But he assumes a smaller group. So far it is only active in Berlin and Brandenburg. “So far their attack targets have been cable shafts, radio pylons and electricity pylons,” explains Neumann. In March 2018, the group carried out an arson attack on power lines in Berlin-Charlottenburg. In 2020, a cable shaft burned in Berlin. In both cases, a letter of responsibility from the “Vulkan Group” appeared afterwards.

In some cases, the group also attacked radio masts or data lines, and sometimes also company vehicles. That’s what the “volcano group” wants Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 2019 According to them, acts of sabotage “reveal the vulnerability of the urban mobility and communications infrastructure, disrupt public order and cause significant property damage.”

“Volcano group” attacks infrastructure and companies

“Attacks on people are not yet known,” says Neumann. The “volcano group” attacks mostly affect companies, but they suffer significant financial damage due to the operational disruptions caused. Tesla expects that the Gigafactory in Grünheide will not be able to produce for several days. The production stop would cause economic damage in the high nine-figure range, plant manager André Thierig explained on Tuesday. That would be hundreds of millions of euros.

“But the people who live in the area are also affected,” says Neumann. On Tuesday, tens of thousands of residents in the region were temporarily without power. During the attack in March 2018, around 400 companies and around 6,500 apartments were affected by the power outage for hours. The property damage at that time ran into the millions.

Tesla is threatened with further attacks

So far, most people have nothing to fear from the “volcano group”, but companies in Berlin and Brandenburg do – especially Tesla: According to the letter of responsibility, which the police classified as authentic, the left-wing extremists are demanding the “complete destruction of the Gigafactory”. It may not have been the last attack on the Tesla factory in Grünheide.

with agencies