An arson attack on a power pole paralyzed the Tesla factory in Grünheide. In a letter of responsibility that the police are examining, the “volcano group” boasts about the attack. What is known about the group? By Yasser Speck.
On Tuesday morning, a power pylon burned in Brandenburg – shortly afterwards, Tesla’s Gigafactory came to a standstill. In addition, many households in Berlin and Brandenburg are without electricity. The so-called “volcano group” is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Not much is known about the group of left-wing extremists, which the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution assigns to the anarchist spectrum. It is said to have been founded in 2011. Since then, she has been carrying out arson attacks in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Tesla not the target of the “volcano group” for the first time
The “Volcano Group” is said to have had Tesla in its sights as early as 2021. At that time, a power cable that supplied the Tesla factory construction site with electricity burned. The “Volcano Group” boasted about the attack. In 2018, a power cable was destroyed in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Even after the action, a letter of responsibility from a so-called “volcano group” appeared.
In 2020, a cable shaft burned in Berlin. A letter of responsibility from a “volcano group” stated that the target of the attack was the Heinrich Hertz Institute. This was involved in the development of a Corona app that the “Vulkangruppe” wanted to stop. The targets of the sabotage operations are often cable shafts, radio masts and data lines.
Tesla production is suspended for days after the arson attack
A fire on a power pole caused massive outages at Tesla and in the neighboring region. No electric cars can be built at the factory until the end of the week. Economics Minister Steinbach speaks of an “attack with terrorist characteristics”.more
Goal: Disrupting public order
The choice of sabotage targets is no coincidence, says extremism expert Felix Neumann from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. “The group wants to make it clear how fragile communication and public life is.” The group also wants to draw attention to the fact that everything is vulnerable, Neumann continued. “That’s why they choose targets that cause power or telecommunications outages not only for large companies like Tesla, but also for the nearby population.”
The 2019 Office for the Protection of the Constitution also states that the group’s goal is to disrupt public order. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution also writes about the acts of sabotage: “In this way, the functioning of ‘everyday capitalist life’ is intended to be disrupted and people are forced to pause.”
Letter of confession with changing names
After acts of sabotage or arson attacks, letters of responsibility repeatedly appear. What is striking, however, is the group’s changing names. The group once called itself the “Volcanic Group Against the Progress of Destruction”. Another time “Volcanic Group Shut Down The Power”.
There are several theories about the changing names, according to extremism expert Neumann. “This may mean that it is the same group under a different name. But it may also be that there is new leadership within this group who then wants to give new emphasis with this new name.” In the letter of responsibility that emerged on Tuesday for the alleged arson attack on an electricity pylon in Brandenburg, she calls herself “Turn off Tesla Volcano Group!”.
Police assume there was an attack in a cable fire near the Tesla construction site
A power line near the future Tesla factory near Grünheide burned on Wednesday. A cable that supplies electricity to the construction site was damaged. State security assumes a political act. A letter of confession is circulating on the Internet.more
Accurate organization structure not clear
It is unclear how many members have joined the “Volcano Group” in recent years. There is also a lack of information about the exact organizational structure of the group. When asked by rbb, the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not want to comment on this. The 2019 Constitutional Protection Report shows that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is based on a stable structure. The authority assumes that several letters of confession come from a “(partially) identical group of authors”. The reason for this assumption is that the letters of confession are similar in structure, style and content.
It remains to be seen whether there will be further arson attacks on the Tesla factory. However, the enemy image of the “Turn off Tesla volcano group” is clear. In their letter of confession it says: “No Tesla in the world should be safe from our flaming rage.”
Broadcast: rbb|24 Inforadio, The Afternoon, 4 p.m.
