On the second day of the IAA in Munich, 29 climate activists are behind bars, most of them in the Stadelheim prison. The “Last Generation” (LG) called for a “vigil” there for late Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, magistrates had confirmed the police custody of two blockers.
The protesters will remain locked up at least until the end of the IAA auto show, most until next Tuesday. Two women even have to remain in custody until September 30th. On platform X, formerly Twitter, the Munich police justify these measures: “The aim is not to keep people from protesting,” it says there, “but to prevent announced crimes.”
In any case, the number of sit-ins has fallen significantly since the beginning of the week. On Monday, activists from the “Last Generation” stopped traffic in four places, on Tuesday six supporters managed to block the northern exit from Donnersbergerbrücke to Arnulfstraße in the evening, on Wednesday no blockades were reported until late afternoon.
The organization called for people to come to the south gate of the Stadelheim prison at 5 p.m. for a vigil: “29 people were preventively locked up without a procedure because they peacefully protested for compliance with our Basic Law.” Statements from relatives were also read there: “Our children are not criminals!” It was said, for example. Selective road blockades are far less problematic for the future of society than “the ongoing blockades” that prevent the absolutely urgent climate protection measures in parties, parliaments, administrations or governments.
While the LG intends to move its protests to Berlin shortly, opponents of the IAA are preparing for the large-scale demonstration on Sunday (11 a.m.) at Karolinenplatz in their “mobility transition camp” in Munich’s Luitpoldpark – but also for “civil disobedience actions” and an “action rally with small group activities “everywhere in the city” on Friday and Saturday. Around 500 people have now arrived, and an extension of the camp has been applied for.
Training courses and lectures at the camp not only deal with questions of climate protection and sustainability, but also with dealing with house searches, there are tips for IT security for activists and a “workshop against repression”. In the camp, participants were warned of police controls on Wednesday. The police confirmed that shortly before midnight on Tuesday, ten people were checked “unrelated to suspicion”. There were no other checks around the camp.
With “walking witnesses” (here at a demo in Saarbrücken) climate protectors want to go for a walk on the streets of Munich.
(Photo: IMAGO/BeckerBredel)
On Thursday, climate activists want to take an unusual action against the “immensity of space required by cars, parking lots and streets” to protest and walk twelve streets in Munich with “walking gear” – wooden frames to strap on the size of cars and SUVs. The campaign comes from the “Geschwistern for Future”, which was founded during a discussion on the subject of global warming in the Munich mobility transition camp. The alliance calls for “a general Bavaria-wide speed limit of 30 km/h in towns and a redirection of car infrastructure subsidies to trams, buses and continuous cycle path networks to protect their younger siblings”.