Germany: Police Raid Multiple Climate Activist Properties

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Facts

  • On Wednesday, German police raided 15 properties across seven states linked to members of the Last Generation climate activist group.1
  • Munich prosecutors said the authorities were investigating seven climate activists, between the ages of 22 and 38, on suspicion of forming or supporting a criminal organization.2
  • The activists are primarily accused of organizing and promoting a campaign to "finance further criminal offenses" — they allegedly collected around €1.4M ($1.5M). In addition, two group members are suspected of trying to sabotage an oil pipeline in April 2022.3
  • Authorities say the raids were conducted to gather evidence about the group's membership structure, further clarify their financing, and confiscate assets. They added that two accounts belonging to the group were seized, and an asset freeze had also been ordered.4
  • The Last Generation activists have been blocking roads nationwide to protest alleged government inaction against climate change for about a year. Recently, they have blocked traffic across Berlin by gluing themselves to intersections and highways.5
  • The German police registered 1.6K criminal complaints about climate protests in 2022, many of which were reportedly linked to Last Generation road blockades.3

Sources: 1CNN, 2Euronews, 3Associated Press, 4NBC, and 5Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Last Generation's tactics are provocative because the group's protests work to bring attention to the climate crisis, and to stir friction to create debate around climate change. Unfortunately, the German government is not taking climate change seriously enough. If there are any criminals in this situation, they are the corporations and lawmakers who continue to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure and threaten the planet.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Associated Press. Last Generation is a group of climate terrorists whose disruptive and destructive protests must stop. The boundaries of legitimate protest are being crossed into criminal behavior. The group's actions are not just criminal, they are counterproductive. No reasonable person would use these tactics; they are dissuading the public from supporting their cause.

Predictions