demonstration
Clashes during blockades after climate demonstrations in Hamburg
Climate activists have occupied the railway lines of the Port of Hamburg. photo
© Markus Scholz/dpa
Climate activists target Hamburg again. Their actions are primarily aimed at the port. The blockades were not always peaceful.
During the blockades by climate activists in Hamburg, there were clashes on Saturday. According to the police, participants in a blockade on the Kattwyk Bridge attacked the officers with pepper spray, to which they responded with pepper spray, batons and water cannons to break the blockage.
A spokeswoman for “Ende Gelände” described the incident as “a new spike in police brutality and arbitrariness against our climate protests”. The activists wrote on Twitter that the pepper spray had come early from the police.
“Ende Gelände” has all weekend announced actions “against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and colonial economic structures”. The activists – including Luisa Neubauer – mainly protested against planned LNG terminals. Many wore white overalls, corona face masks and baseball caps. According to “Ende Gelände”, more than 1,000 activists took part in the blockades.
They also blocked the Köhlbrand Bridge and the Hamburg Port Authority railway lines in the Hausbruch district. They said they blocked freight traffic in the entire port area. “We are blocking a central hub of German foreign trade here to draw attention to the effects of modern colonialism,” said a statement by the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion about the 12 noon occupation of the bridge.
The other blockades have been resolved peacefully, according to the police. Emergency services found identities on Saturday, issued multiple long-term restraining orders and detained several people, according to a late night police report. That is why 1,400 officials from Hamburg and eight other federal states were deployed.
Criticism of the oil and gas industry
A total of five lifts were announced for that day in the Hanseatic city. About 2,000 people left the Altonaer Volkspark in the morning during a large demonstration. Their motto: “Against LNG, colonialism and extractivism – let fossil capitalism sink!” The spokeswoman for the organization “Ende Gelände” said: “The big oil and gas companies are profiting from the crisis. While rising fossil fuel prices and inflation are putting many people at risk of poverty, the oil and gas industry is making billions in profits. .”
Although the Elbphilharmonie was originally planned as the destination of the first major demo, according to the police, the organizer ended the lift at an intermediate meeting at Altona station. Hundreds of participants moved from there to the south of Hamburg. According to the police, some had disguised themselves – and had taken off at the request of the officers.
Then there was a lift with the tenor: “Clean gas is a dirty lie,” the police continued – with some 450 participants. About 150 people got out suddenly and stuck to the tracks on the railway in the port of Hamburg.
During a meeting with the tenor “Against coal and oil – stop neocolonial extractivism!” On the other hand, about 550 people demonstrated peacefully. The blockade at the Kattwykbrücke originated from one of the other lifts.
The Left Alliance “…for everything!” already announced blockade actions in the morning. Among other things, there were calls to specifically disrupt supply chains in the port of Hamburg, the group said. They want to “bring the protest to the port of Hamburg, because it is not only a symbolic place, but also a critical point of capitalism,” said a spokeswoman.