Lützerath eviction: police pelted with Molotov cocktails – activists complain of “blows to the head”
Created: 01/11/2023 12:51 p.m
By: Martina Lippl
The village of Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine is to be evacuated.
Climate activists want to prevent that.
The police are preparing for a "difficult large-scale operation".
The news ticker.
Lützerath
-
Eviction
in progress: According to the police spokesman, the situation is currently stable - no information about injuries.
Police
clear
lignite site
: activists want to stay and continue their protest.
Lützerath eviction began on Wednesday (January 11): Police and activists face each other.
This
news ticker
on the
clearance of Lützerath
is updated regularly.
Update from January 11, 2023, 12:18 p.m .:
The police have reported physical attacks by some activists with Molotov cocktails and pyrotechnics.
However, demonstrators in Lützerath have also complained about the sometimes disproportionate use of officials.
"I got hit on the head myself, even though we were standing here, my hands were hooked," a climate activist told WDR.
They still want to protest non-violently: "We don't want any escalation with the police."
When asked about suspected projectiles being thrown at the police, one of her comrades-in-arms affirmed: "It is important to all of us that the protest here is peaceful." He is concerned with climate justice and questioning the political decision, which he sees as questionable, to give up Lützerath for lignite mining.
According to him, most local climate activists are peaceful.
Police officers carry a climate activist away from the occupied lignite town of Lützerath.
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Lützerath is being evicted: the RWE energy company wants to completely fence off the town
Update from January 11, 2023, 12:03 p.m .:
While the police are still clearing Lützerath, the energy company RWE has announced a measure.
After the police operation, a one-and-a-half kilometer fence will be built around the site, the company said in a statement: "It marks the company's own construction site, where the remaining buildings, ancillary facilities, roads and canals of the former settlement will be dismantled in the next few weeks.
Trees and bushes will also be removed.”
Update from January 11, 2023, 11:20 a.m.:
The eviction in Lützerath is likely to take quite a while.
The police forces have to remove individual pillars from the ground in many places with welding equipment and jackhammers.
A very tedious job, which of course takes a lot of time.
A police officer uses a welder to remove a floor pillar.
© Sven Simon/Imago
Eviction of Lützerath: Weather makes police and climate activists create additional problems
Update from January 11, 2023, 11:11 a.m .:
Police and climate activists are struggling with uncomfortable weather when clearing Lützerath.
On the night of Wednesday there were three to five liters of rain per square meter immediately before the start of the evacuation, said Jana Beck, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD) in Essen.
The soils in and around the occupied place were already completely sodden.
It will continue to rain on Wednesday afternoon.
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In the night to Thursday, the wind should also freshen up, isolated stormy gusts are possible.
The meteorologist expects up to 10 liters of rain per square meter again.
In the coming days it is also supposed to rain again and again in Lützerath.
"There will not be a permanently precipitation-free phase until the weekend," said Beck.
Lützerath eviction in progress: According to the police spokesman, the situation is currently stable - no information about injuries
Update from January 11, 2023, 11:05 a.m .:
On Wednesday morning, a police spokesman stated that the situation was “stable” after the start of the evacuation of the occupied lignite town of Lützerath.
The emergency services cordoned off the entire area, and no one could enter without authorization, it said.
Now the police are active on the entire site, removing barricades and bringing activists outside.
People could - if at all - only move around the area to a limited extent.
The police spokesman initially had no information about possible injuries.
In Lützerath, the clearing of the lignite site is in progress.
The police are trying to persuade them climate activists to give up.
© Christopher Neundorf/Imago
Update from January 11, 2023, 10:52 a.m .:
According to the police, children are also taking part in the protest against the eviction of the lignite site, as also reported by
24rhein.de
.
“In Lützerath there are small children.
Due to far-reaching dangers in the area of operation, the Aachen police are appealing to the legal guardians to leave the area immediately with their children," it said in a statement.
The youth welfare office is also on site and supports the emergency services.
Police clear lignite site: activists want to stay and continue their protest
Update from January 11, 2023, 10:47 a.m .:
The climate activists in Lützerath apparently do not want to give in.
A spokeswoman has confirmed that despite the police's request to leave the lignite site, the village will continue to be occupied.
"People are determined to persevere, to protect the trees and the buildings," said Mara Sauer, a spokeswoman for the "Lützerath Lives" initiative.
She has no information about possible injuries.
The police began clearing Lützerath on Wednesday morning.
Among other things, activists are on tree houses, in buildings and huts, said Sauer.
"It will definitely take a long time," she emphasized with a view to the eviction.
Climate activists block an access road to the occupied lignite mining town of Lützerath.
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Update from January 11, 2023, 10:30 a.m .:
On Tuesday evening (January 10), two urgent procedures were used to overturn the ban on staying in the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area.
But on Wednesday, the administrative court in Aachen announced that the ban had been reconfirmed.
Climate activists had already failed with an urgent application before the administrative court last week.
The Higher Administrative Court in Münster confirmed the decision on Monday.
Update from January 11, 2023, 10:21 a.m .:
A sign can be seen on many house walls in the lignite town occupied by climate activists.
A yellow cross adorns many facades in Lützerath, the symbol has a special meaning.
Eviction in Lützerath: According to the police, climate activists throw Molotov cocktails and pyrotechnics at emergency services
Update from January 11, 2023, 10:15 a.m .:
Apparently, the police in Lützerath have the situation at the lignite site under control.
According to the police, individual climate activists used violence beforehand and threw Molotov cocktails, pyrotechnics and stones at the emergency services.
Nevertheless, a local police spokesman said of the Lützerath evacuation: "I would have expected it to be worse." Despite the voluntary withdrawal of some activists, the police are still faced with the problem of removing the remaining protesters from the barricades, trees or other places of retreat.
Numerous climate activists are currently holed up there.
Lützerath before the eviction: That has happened until now
View photo gallery
Update from January 11, 2023, 9:49 a.m .:
The police have given activists an ultimatum to give up the occupation of the lignite town of Lützerath.
There is now one last possibility to leave the place voluntarily.
Otherwise, "you must expect the application to be subject to immediate coercion," said a police announcement on Wednesday morning.
The first activists followed the request and left voluntarily.
They were escorted off the premises by police officers.
But many want to continue to resist.
Update from January 11, 2023, 9.33 a.m .:
First violent actions by protesting activists in Lützerath: According to the police, stones and pyrotechnics were thrown in the direction of the emergency services when the lignite town in North Rhine-Westphalia was cleared.
Molotov cocktails were also used.
"Stop throwing Molotov cocktails immediately.
Behave peacefully and non-violently!” wrote the police on Twitter.
Update from January 11, 2023, 9:13 a.m .:
Meanwhile, police forces have begun to fence in the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area, which is occupied by climate activists.
Update from January 11, 2023, 9:05 a.m .:
In Lützerath, the police have asked to leave the lignite site occupied by activists.
"You can now leave the area here without further consequences for you," said a police loudspeaker announcement on Wednesday morning.
"Due to the corresponding general decree of the Heinsberg district of December 20th, 2022, you are prohibited from staying and entering the area specified therein in and around the location of Lützerath." The police are asking everyone who is there to leave the area.
Update from January 11, 2023, 8.50 a.m .:
Hundreds of police officers moved to the lignite town of Lützerath on Wednesday and penetrated into the place occupied by activists.
It came to the first scuffles, as dpa reporters reported.
A police spokesman confirmed that emergency services want to completely change the place.
Climate activists are in the occupied lignite town of Lützerath.
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Lützerath eviction began on Wednesday (January 11): Police and activists face each other
Update from January 11, 2023, 8.45 a.m .:
Activists and police officers face each other directly on the edge of the occupied lignite town of Lützerath.
There were initially no direct confrontations on Wednesday morning.
An activist appeals to the officials to stop the operation.
"This mission can't have been the reason you became a police officer."
The police union (GdP) in North Rhine-Westphalia said that the "hot phase of the police operation to clear" began this Wednesday.
The legal situation is clear that Lützerath may be dredged for coal production.
"If we no longer accept the decisions of our courts, our rule of law is at an end," said GdP state chairman Michael Mertens.
"All peaceful climate protectors are called upon to distance themselves from violent criminals and to isolate them!"
Update from January 11, 2023, 8.40 a.m
.: In the occupied lignite town of Lützerath, the activists are preparing for an imminent evacuation by the police.
On Wednesday morning, sirens and alarm bells rang through the occupied location.
"We think it's about to start because a lot of police cars have driven here," said a spokeswoman for the activists.
"A never-ending chain of police cars drives through the opencast mine," said the Telegram channel "Lützerath Lebt!
Info Channel".
Police officers advance to the brown coal town of Lützerath, which is occupied by climate activists.
The eviction has begun.
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Some activists climbed onto tall monopods and tripods - which are trunks tied together with platforms.
They were erected in the past few days to make it as difficult as possible for the police to get to the activists.
Climate activists occupy a lignite site in NRW: dozens of police vehicles are on site
Update from January 11, 2023, 7:30 a.m.:
The energy company RWE has announced that it will start “dismantling” the Rhenish lignite town of Lützerath this Wednesday.
"As one of the first measures, a construction fence a good one and a half kilometers long will be erected for safety reasons," the group said in the morning.
The group left it open whether the police operation to clear the site would begin and referred to the police.
According to a spokesman for the Aachen police, an evacuation in the Rhenish lignite town of Lützerath can be expected “anytime from Wednesday”.
He announced further closures of the place in the morning.
The spokesman said that Lützerath could be surrounded by the police during the operation.
The police are preparing to clear Lützerath.
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Before the evacuation in the Rhenish lignite town of Lützerath, which is expected from this Wednesday, the police are pulling together strong forces.
Around the place occupied by climate activists, dozens of police vehicles were on the road early Wednesday morning, as dpa reporters reported.
It was raining heavily and continuously, the ground was soggy.
According to the Aachen police, the operation to clear the place should begin this Wednesday at the earliest.
According to Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach, the forthcoming evacuation of the protest village is one of the most challenging operations in recent years.
The police receive support from all over Germany.
Activists have erected about 25 tree houses, some at great heights.
Lützerath is about to be evicted: climate activists have occupied the abandoned village in North Rhine-Westphalia for months
Original notification from January 10, 2023:
Erkelenz - The village of Lützerath in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia is deserted.
Original residents have looked for a new home.
Below him are 280 million tons of lignite.
The energy company RWE wants to excavate the coal there.
The land and the buildings belong to RWE.
Climate activists moved in months ago and occupied Lützerath.
The coal there has to stay in the ground, they demand.
Lützerath has become a symbol for the climate policy of the Federal Government and North Rhine-Westphalia.
There must be an earlier exit from coal, so the accusation.
Because, according to experts, it is almost impossible to meet the 1.5 degree target from the Paris climate agreement with the excavation.
The police are concerned about the escalation of violence: Lützerath is to be cleared on Wednesday (January 11).
According to the police, the evacuation of Lützerath must be expected at any time.
The exact time is still open.
The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia basically gave the green light on Tuesday (January 10).
The activists failed again in court in a dispute over a residence ban.
According to information from the police, the village should not be cleared before Wednesday (January 11).
The authorities want to provide information on Tuesday (January 10) together with Heinsberg district administrator Stephan Pusch in the city of Erkelenz, to which Lützerath belongs, about the use of the Garzweiler opencast mine.
Various groups are now demonstrating in Lützerath and the surrounding area.
A broad alliance has called for a large demonstration on Saturday (January 14).
Lützerath eviction is imminent: climate activists are sitting on so-called tripods.
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Protests in Lützerath: Climate activists tie themselves to tripods
While the police are already clearing away barricades with excavators, activists continue to prepare for the eviction.
In the early hours of the morning they tied themselves to so-called tripods, reports WDR.
They would be surrounded by a human chain.
The police rounded her up.
The situation is "dynamic", tweets the action ticker Lützerath.
The police used pain grips and occasionally pepper spray.
"It will be a challenging operation with many risks," police chief Dirk Weinspach said on Monday morning on WDR.
In the past week, the Lützerath protests remained mostly peaceful - but on Sunday it "escalated again for the first time".
Among other things, stones were flown.
"That's not a good sign at first," said Weinspach.
"I hope that won't happen again next week."
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