The Berlin police are currently taking resolute action against gatherings of climate activists. In order to be able to take quicker action against the disruptors and blockers, the authorities had issued a ban on unregistered demonstrations of the last generation around the Berlin Marathon. At a protest this Saturday in Schöneberg, it became clear how quickly the emergency services reacted. According to the climate protection organization, the officials acted disproportionately because they disrupted a meeting in a church.
According to Last Generation, several climate activists gathered at the Apostle Church in the morning to start a demonstration from there. Then police officers suddenly appeared in front of the church and searched the people and took their personal details. “Banners and high-visibility vests were also confiscated. Some officers also broke into the building. A publicly announced Last Generation event took place in the church, to which all interested Berliners were invited,” says a statement published later. The climate activists condemned the police actions.
Berlin police check 103 Last Generation activists
When asked by the Berliner Zeitung, a police spokeswoman said that 103 people had actually been checked. However, this would not have taken place in the church, but in the surrounding area. “There were probably a few officers in the church, but only to get an idea of the situation,” said the spokeswoman. Due to the prohibition order for this weekend, it was suspected that a blockade was planned near the route of the skater marathon.
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In fact, after brunch in the Apostle Church, a “spontaneous” demonstration was registered as an urgent procedure. According to Last Generation, the protesters wanted to walk through the city from the church under the slogan “Current politics has deadly consequences.” “We let them do it and accompanied the protest march,” said the police spokeswoman. After only about 500 meters, most of the demonstrators apparently lost interest. The elevator largely disintegrated at Potsdamer/Kurfürstenstrasse, only a few dozen then tried to block an intersection, which, according to police, was quickly stopped. Some demonstrators had to be carried away.