“There aren’t enough people coming” – “Last Generation” complains about the lack of attendance
“Disobedient assemblies” instead of superglue – climate activists want to change the form of protest
Members of the “Last Generation” want to forego their sticking activities on motorways and streets in the future. Instead, from March onwards there will be a call for “disobedient gatherings across the country”.
The “Last Generation” wants to rely on new forms of protest in the future, and the activists want to forego road blockades. According to an activist, this change in strategy comes because the group lacks followers. “We can’t ignore that.”
DThe radical activist group “Last Generation” wants to change its strategy and avoid road blockades using glued activists in the future. The lack of influx apparently also plays a role. “If enough new people had continued to come in so that others could take a breather, we would have said: We will continue on this path,” said Lars Werner, part of the group’s strategy team, to the “Mirror” on Tuesday. “But not enough come. We can’t ignore that.” According to information from the leadership of the protest movement, the magazine reports, legal proceedings and hostility have led to a lack of supporters.
The group’s actions were intense and exhausting and required a lot of courage, said Werner. “After blockades, some said: That was right, but I can’t do it again straight away.” Many are busy with legal proceedings. Some would want to wait and see what the fine would be or whether they would even have to go to prison.
“We came to bring about change and to put pressure on those responsible,” said Werner. More and more people took part in the “Last Generation” – “but we have reached a limit. The critical mass is missing.” That’s why the group is making a new offer that could appeal to new people. According to Werner, the hostility on the street also plays a role in the change in strategy. “That doesn’t make it particularly attractive to join us.”
How the “last generation” wants to protest in the future
On Monday, the “Last Generation” announced that it would look for other forms of protest in the future. “Starting in March, we will call for disobedient gatherings across the country. Instead of dividing into small groups and blocking roads, we will hold disobedient gatherings with many people,” it said. The “chapter of sticking and roadblocks ends with this”.
In addition, they want to “confront those responsible for climate destruction more directly in the future” and to “confront politicians and other decision-makers publicly and in front of cameras,” it said. “On the other hand, we will increasingly visit places of fossil destruction for our protest, as was the case in the past with protests at oil pipelines, airports or the RWE company premises.”
Another planned action the group mentions is an appeal to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: “We will call on him to speak publicly and honestly about climate destruction and the necessary change of course.” The details of this appeal are to be worked out in the form of a letter in the coming months become.
3,700 cases against activists in Berlin
On January 24, 2022, the group began its road blockades for a radical climate change. There were also protests in museums, stadiums and ministries. Last year, activists changed their form of protest and increasingly relied on slow marches.
The road blockades caused discontent, even among Green Party politicians. The Berlin police alone counted 550 actions last year, and the capital’s public prosecutor’s office has now conducted 3,700 cases. Many of those affected were outraged by the activists.
Things have become noticeably quieter about the “Last Generation” for some time now. It is in the shadow of the loud farmers’ protests and now also the large demonstrations against right-wing extremism. She canceled her next planned “mass blockade” on February 3rd in favor of an action against right-wing extremism.