Police use water cannons: demonstrators throw firecrackers in Lützerath
Created: 01/14/2023, 16:45
By: Teresa Toth, Moritz Serif, Christian Weihrauch
Demonstrators in Lützerath ignite firecrackers and try to break through the police lines.
© Aktionsticker Lützerath/twitter
Thousands of people demonstrate in Lützerath.
The police used batons and threatened them with water cannons.
The news ticker.
Arrest:
According to the activists, a person is in custody in Lützerath.
Huge demonstration:
Thousands of people protest in front of the settlement, including Greta Thunberg.
Tunnel under Lützerath:
Two activists are in a tunnel that is in danger of collapsing due to the clearance.
+++ 16:44: According to
Spiegel
, the police stopped using water cannons
after a short time.
The area is now gradually emptying.
+++ 16:37:
The police used water cannons against demonstrators shortly before the sealed-off village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area, reports the dpa.
Hundreds of demonstrators faced the police in front of Lützerath.
From their ranks the cry "Off to Lützerath!
Off to Lützerath!”
+++ 16.02:
The situation in Lützerath remains tense.
According to
Spiegel
, the police used pepper spray against the demonstrators, who pushed back the emergency services.
The police threatened to use water cannons.
A police spokesman says they have not yet been deployed, but have been put in place.
Demo in Lützerath: Greta Thunberg calls on demonstrators to hold on
+++ 3.42 p.m .:
The police have withdrawn to the fence around Lützerath – this is reported by the
mirror
.
The double fence gates are closed so no one can get in or out.
Police have placed water cannons behind the fence, according to
Der Spiegel
.
Greta Thunberg spoke earlier at the Keyenberg rally and urged the demonstrators to hold on.
"There are 35,000 people in Lützerath right now," she said.
"You are the change, you are the hope."
Meanwhile, videos are circulating on social networks that criticize the violent actions of the police in Lützerath.
Left-wing politician Ferat Koçak shared a video showing police officers beating demonstrators.
Koçak writes: “The police in Lützerath brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators, children, young people and families with batons.
This is violence against democratic law [...].”
Lützerath: clashes between police and demonstrators
+++ 3.05 p.m .:
At the large demo in Lützerath there are clashes with the police.
Police officers are pushing back the activists who have formed a human chain - this is reported by
Spiegel
reporters who are on site.
Demonstrators throw mud at officers and set off firecrackers.
After the first line of police was broken through, they have now retreated further.
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Over loudspeaker announcements, the police asked the demonstrators to withdraw, otherwise there was a threat of "physical coercion and water cannons".
The police officers keep running at the protesters and, according to
Spiegel
, hit them with batons.
Eviction in Lützerath: One person is in custody
“Thousands flow through the police lines.
We are showing that we are determined to defend Lützerath and to stand up for a good future for everyone!" tweeted the "Aktionticker Lützerath".
One person has already been arrested and is currently in custody.
"We will publish more information as soon as we can," writes the action ticker on Twitter.
+++ 1:09 p.m .:
Thousands of people traveled to Lützerath for the large demonstration, which started at 12 p.m.
As the Instagram channel "luetzibleibbt" writes in its story, the demonstration is currently moving through Keyenberg, north of Lützerath, in the direction of the final rally.
According to a tweet from the "Aktionsticker Lützerath" there were so many people on site that there were brief problems with the network: "We're sorry that we couldn't post anything: there are apparently sooo incredibly many people there that all our radio networks collapsed are.” In Lützerath, meanwhile, clearing continues.
Lützerath: Demolition work by the energy company RWE is progressing
+++ 11.56 a.m .:
While the police are preparing for the demonstration around Lützerath, the energy company RWE is apparently continuing its demolition work.
RWE wants to create facts quickly, said the spokeswoman for the "Lützerath is alive" initiative, Bente Opitz.
"The destruction is blatant, and it's blatant how fast it is."
In the so-called grove, the SEK is still busy with the clearance, as the "Aktionsticker Lützerath" reports on Twitter.
However, the activists refuse to evict and build new traverses.
"Wäldchen remains stable," writes the ticker.
Protests Lützerath: Trees are felled
+++ 10.20 a.m .:
The Aachen police provide information on the coordination of the planned large-scale demonstration on Saturday (January 14) in Lützerath.
The Federal Police will therefore be on duty for arrival and departure at the train stations and stops around Lützerath.
Thousands of demonstrators are expected - including Greta Thunberg.
Meanwhile, the activists are documenting the progressing tree felling in the settlement via their Instagram channel "luetzibleibt".
Videos show people in tree houses continuing to try to block the eviction.
Lützerath: Thousands want to come to the demonstration
Update from Saturday, January 14th, 9.15 a.m .:
The evacuation in Lützerath will continue.
"We're almost done above ground," said a police spokesman on Saturday morning (January 14).
There are still about 15 “structures” of the activists, including tree houses and shacks.
According to the police, the night passed "quietly" and without incident after the emergency services stopped clearing the settlement again on Friday evening.
In addition to the above-ground evacuation, attempts will continue on Saturday to penetrate a tunnel in which two people are staying, according to the police.
In a press release published by the “Aktionsticker Lützerath”, the two tunnel residents “Pinky” and “Brain” emphasized that the “improper and unqualified clearance” by the police could cause the tunnel to collapse and put their lives in danger.
Lützerath: Eviction by the police continues
First report from Saturday, January 14th:
Lützerath – Thousands of demonstrators are expected on Saturday (12 p.m.) near the lignite mining town of Lützerath against the clearing of the settlement.
The police have been clearing the place since Wednesday (January 11).
According to an alliance of environmental organizations and climate policy initiatives, more than ten thousand participants are expected.
The protest march first leads through the town of Keyenberg, which, like Lützerath, belongs to the town of Erkelenz.
A final rally follows near Lützerath.
Specifically, the alliance is calling for an evacuation stop to prevent the planned excavation of the lignite under Lützerath by the energy company RWE.
Thunberg and Neubauer expected in Lützerath
The initiatives All Villages Remain, Fridays for Future and the BUND are involved in the demonstration.
The climate activists Greta Thunberg and Luisa Neubauer are also expected to take part in the protest.
Two activists are also trapped in a tunnel four meters below a ramshackle house.
The protesters call themselves "Pinky" and "Brain".
The oxygen supply is guaranteed via a hose that extends into the underground hiding place.
Since, according to Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach, there is a risk of death, it is still unclear when the activists can be evacuated from the tunnel, which is not considered safe.
Lützerath: Activists are still blocking tunnels
According to the "Aktionsticker Lützerath" of the activists on Twitter, there is an acute "risk of the tunnel collapsing" due to the felling and clearing of tree houses by the police in Lützerath.
The already cleared tree houses, which the police let fall down, can therefore be felt in the tunnel.
(chw/mse/afp)