A "minor inconvenience" for drivers, a big step for the climate?
Climate activists are apparently striking again in Berlin.
Berlin – "We have deflated one or more of your tires," said the note from the suspected climate activists who struck again in Berlin.
"It's not you, it's your car," it said.
They understand the car owners' anger, but they should "not take the sabotage personally".
Official details of the incident on Friday (March 10) are not yet known.
However, the police confirmed that more than 600 corresponding reports of property damage have been filed in Berlin since November 2021.
There are several injured parties, as just stated https://t.co/KmV6QOLLUb pic.twitter.com/pIckhxmyDU
— Axel Lier ✏️ (@Reporter_Flash) March 10, 2023
After similar events in Karlsruhe on Wednesday (March 8), a letter of confession was received by the
Badische Latest News (BNN)
.
Accordingly, the perpetrators see themselves as part of the group "The Tire Extinguishers" ("The tire extinguishers"), based on the English term "Fire Extinguisher", in German "fire extinguishers".
The climate activists have let the air out of the tires on two dozen off-road vehicles there.
Climate activists “The Tire Extinguishers” – Over 600 ads
The vehicles affected are so-called SUVs (“sports utility vehicles”, i.e. “sports and off-road vehicles”), which have long been the subject of criticism due to their size and fuel consumption.
According to the police, the perpetrators had also left messages on the windscreens with comparable content in Karlsruhe.
The group of climate activists has previously drawn attention to itself with several actions in Europe and the USA.
Incidents of this type had already occurred in numerous cities in December 2022, including Hamburg, Bonn and Hanover, according to information from the
Agence France-Presse (afp)
news agency - Berlin had also been affected.
SUVs with flat tires: climate activists strike in Leipzig and Berlin
It happens in Leipzig in mid-February.
City police said at least 54 SUVs were affected, with at least one tire deflated.
Here, too, letters of confession with a climate policy background were left on the cars.
The investigations into the perpetrators are ongoing, according to information from the
afp
.
The police check the connections between the various cases in the federal and state governments.
Now Berlin has apparently become the target again, as reported by reporter Axel Lier via Twitter.
In the district of Friedrichshain there are therefore "several victims".
The group also has a profile on the platform that links to the alleged official website of the activist group: “We are the Tire Extinguishers.
We are people from all walks of life with one goal: We want to make owning a large, polluting SUV impossible in the cities of the world.
Climate activism in Berlin: Tire Extinguishers focus on SUVs
A reason for their actions can also be found there.
"We are taking these actions because governments and politicians have failed," they write.
"Everyone" hates SUVs except for the people who drive them.
What are the punctures supposed to bring?
If they "repeatedly deflate their tires and encourage others to do the same, the small inconvenience of a flat tire will become a huge impediment to driving huge killer vehicles on our roads," they hope.
It is also said that anyone who feels called to do so can take part.
There is no "leader" of the group.
And help is also provided for participation: "How to recognize an SUV" is described, together with some photos of common models of the "killer vehicles".
Some common (but not universal) characteristics of SUVs are, according to Tire Extinguishers:
high ground clearance (larger distance between the ground and the chassis of the vehicle)
Higher than most other cars
coarser or larger tires than normal
Source: tyreextinguishers.com
