The police continue their evacuation. Only a few activists remain in Lützerath – two are still in a tunnel. Clashes break out at a demonstration.
Four days after the start of the evacuation of Lützerath, two climate activists are still holding out in an underground tunnel. How long it will take to get them out of there is completely unclear, said a spokesman for the energy company RWE, whose company fire brigade took over the action described as “rescue”.
The fire brigade regularly checks a ventilation device on the shaft. A spokeswoman for the activist group “Lützerath Leben” said the condition of the two activists was stable.
Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach climbed into the shaft himself on Friday to get an idea of the situation. “It’s a vaulted cellar, from which a shaft of four meters goes, then a construction in the horizontal,” he said afterwards. However, he was not at the bottom of the shaft, but only at the top, where it was still reasonably safe to do so. “The construction is not safe,” was his impression. “What we have seen for draft and exhaust air is not suitable for ensuring a permanent supply of oxygen there so that the CO2 content does not rise too much.” However, the fire brigade constantly takes measurements.
“Pinky” and “Brain”
On Thursday, a video of two hooded men posted on the YouTube platform caused a stir. “Pinky” and “Brain” state that they are in the tunnel under Lützerath. A police spokesman said they had evidence the video was authentic.
The tunnel is a very effective form of defense against an eviction, Pinky said in the video. “The sensible thing is that it’s much more difficult to clear a tunnel than a tree house is now, because first of all you don’t know exactly where the people are. The police on the surface don’t know where the people are in the tunnel And besides, all the corridors are barricaded with doors and such. That means it’s much more difficult to just come in.”
“Brain” added that it was about delaying the eviction long enough for other activists to mobilize supporters above, so that the eviction might still be stopped. “It just takes a lot of time, and we hope to gain a little with this project.”
Only a few activists in Lützerath
Meanwhile, the police continue the evacuation. Police rescuers attached to a crane were trying to get to activists in trees, a spokesman said.
According to the police, only a few activists are still in Lützerath. The number of people is estimated to be in the single digits, the spokesman said. According to a local activist, about 20 people are still on the site.
Large parts of the site were floodlit in the early morning, as dpa reporters reported. Excavators drove onto the site to demolish more buildings.
The village of Lützerath, a district of Erkelenz west of Cologne, has been cordoned off by the police for days and is surrounded by a double fence. The few buildings in the settlement will be demolished to enable the energy company RWE to excavate the lignite underneath. On the other hand, many thousands of people demonstrated in the neighboring district of Keyenberg on Saturday. The police spoke of 15,000 participants, the organizers estimated the number at 35,000.
Injured on both in collisions
On the fringes of the demonstration, there were clashes between demonstrators and the police. A total of more than 70 police officers were injured. According to a police spokesman, most of them were injured during the anti-coal protests on Saturday. The injuries were only partly due to violence by demonstrators. Some of the officials, for example, also twisted their ankles in the muddy ground. Demonstrators were also injured. No one knows how many there are. Since the start of the evacuation of Lützerath on Wednesday, around 150 criminal proceedings have been initiated, for example for resistance against police officers, physical harm and breach of the peace.
A spokeswoman for the activist group “Lützerath Leben” raised serious allegations against the police. At the demo on Saturday there was “an unbelievable level of police violence,” she said. One person from the ranks of the demonstrators was taken to the hospital in a life-threatening condition. The procedure for the evacuation of Lützerath itself was rabid and ruthless. “It’s a miracle there haven’t been any deaths here,” said the spokeswoman. The police deny this allegation and assure them that they will proceed with extreme caution.
The energy company RWE announced in the evening that they were “appalled at the aggression and violence that emanated from some of the activists”. This has nothing to do with the otherwise peaceful demonstration. “Anyone who completely uninhibitedly throws stones and firecrackers at police officers and tries to break through barricades is not criticizing energy policy, but is attacking the social foundations of our constitutional state.”
The main speaker at the rally was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. “Lützerath is still there, and as long as the coal is still in the ground, this fight is not over,” said the 20-year-old to the cheers of the audience.