At noon on Saturday, the demonstration began in Lützerath against the mine hole. According to police reports to German media, approximately 8,000 protesters were expected, but there are believed to be more.
According to Westdeutscher Rundfunk the police allegedly used pepper spray against protesters. Images from the scene also show clashes between police in riot gear and protesters.
On Twitter the police are warning the protesters not to go near the mine hole – especially after the rain of the last few days. “Don’t put your life or your health at risk.” The writes also that mostly masked people have tried to get into dangerous areas. They call on the protesters to be cooperative and not tackle the police.
Activists in tunnel
Two activists have also found themselves in a tunnel they dug under Lützerath. According to the activists, they want to give the protesters above ground as long as possible to mobilize, reports BBC.
Police chief Dirk Weinspach told the BBC that they had tried to have a dialogue with the activists in the tunnel and informed them of the risks. During Saturday, work continued to try to get the two out of the tunnel.
On Friday, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg published an Instagram post from Lützerath. She was also one of the participants during Saturday’s protests. She was also one of those who spoke before the gathered protesters.
– We are not going to give up, she says from the stage.
Will evacuate the city
The protests have already been going on for just over two years in western Germany. A thousand protesters and activists have occupied the remaining houses but also built huts to keep away from the police. The reason for the occupation is that an energy company wants to mine additional brown coal in the area. The conflict has made Lützerath a symbol of the German energy debate.
Earlier this week there were reports that upwards of 2,000 police officers had been called to the scene to evacuate the city.
Germany has pledged to phase out coal power by 2030 – eight years faster than the previous target of 2038. Lützerath is therefore expected to be one of the last towns used to mine coal, reports BBC.
