Ticker 5 September

Ticker (check also twitter @HambiBleibt @Oaktown1312 )
5. September
11:53 Around the tripod at the “Jesuspoint” a big operation is happening. Climbing cops are there. A heavy machine drove over what they previously called a dangerous “bomb”. They did not call a bomb disposal engineer.

11:46 Ground structures in Lorien have been removed. One tripod is still standing.
11:35 Since last night at 4:30 2 people have been in the Gesa (detention center) in Aachen. One of them has been allowed to use the phone now, for the first time. They did not get any food. Come to the Gesa! Bring tobacco and vegan snacks.
10:55 Cherry picker wanted to evict the lowest platform in Lorien. When someone occupied the platform, the cherrypicker stopped. The ground in oaktown is being evicted very thoroughly by the police. A small tripod in Lorien has been pushed over by an eviction tank, a big tripod is occupied.
10:34 Climbing cops at the tripod. Person is buried in hole, 2,5m deep,with the left arm in a lock-on. Cherry picker in oaktown
10:14 Eviction team of the cops gets to the tripod and monopod structure at the jesus point.
9:32 the eviction of everything on the ground in oaktown has started. In the background the cops and RWE are called names by activists.
9:27 Police heard the name Mike in oaktown: Is he not living on the meadow?
9:25 Person, who had been arrested near the flying field, was set free.
9:16 Police has found an art installation and is getting support from a bomb disposal team
9:09 One person arrested near the flying field
9:00 Riot cops and security at oaktown. Calls and howling sirens from everywhere
8:58 Technical unit at the tripod at the entrance of the forest near Deathtrap. They brought a cherry picker with them
8:04 Meadow surrounded by cops
8:00 Cops at the meadow drive aimlessly from left to right. Historical barricades are being evicted
7:40 Lorien is surrounded. Eviction works started around the lake at oaktown
7:31 Armoured cops (about a hundred) enters the forest at Deathtrap very carefully. A lot of eviction vehicles and security guards, but still manageable. Inspection of the forest on the main roads
6:00 meadow calm, some vehicles at deathtrap

Continue ReadingTicker 5 September

Press announcement: 05.09.2018

Press announcement: 05.09.2018

Invitation to press conference on Day X

Since August 26th the Hambach Forest has been in the crosshair of a massive police action, and we have reason to believe that an eviction of the Hambach Forest occupation soon could be a reality.

While thousands right-extremists in Chemnitz are hunting refugees and migrants, the Hambach Forest will be subject to one of the largest police actions that the state of NRW has ever seen. The lines are being crossed, and the State and police are undermining civil rights and democracy, in the name of the capitalist system.

The Hambach Forest, a forest that has existed since the end of the last iceage and for the last 6 years has been occupied by activists, has by now become a symbol of resistance.
The protest points its finger at the people who put profit before sustainability and social justice.
We want to point out and dismantle the extraction of brown-coal (lignite), and its absurd destruction of landscapes, villages and the environment.

Day X: on the day where the first tree in the Hambach Forest falls, we, the action-alliances that fight for the preservation of the forest, will hold a press conference.

Leila, an activist from the occupation, says about the current situation:
“The state of NRW is right now directing its violence against the people protecting nature and fighting climate change. This is an attack on the whole movement for climate justice, and clearly shows the reactionary face of the capitalist state.”

It is still unclear how the police will act on Day X, but we will keep you informed when the time comes.

Please direct press contact towards:
press_hambachforset@nullriseup.net

Further actors of the press conference:

Aktion Unterholz
Emil Freytag, 0177 5944676, presse_unterholz@nullriseup.net, aktion-unterholz.org

Ende Gelände!
Karolina Drzewo, 0152 04560800,presse@nullende-gelaende.org, ende-gelaende.org

Buirer für Buir,
Andreas Büttgen, 0173 5146141, andreas.buettgen@nullbuirerfuerbuir.de

Continue ReadingPress announcement: 05.09.2018

Unilateral Escalation?!

“If this unilateral escalation continues, it will end bitterly.”

We are surprised that Robert H., a contact cop, so realistically assesses the current tactics of the police. Because with “unilateral escalation” he can only have meant this. This quote is from the evening of August 25th, so it’s one week old. The first part of this text is just as old. The events of the last week, however, confirmed many times the statement “If this unilateral escalation continues, it will end bitterly.”.

On Wednesday, 8/22, a minibus was checked, the police approached the car only with their firearms aiming from only a few meters away on the heads of the people involved, as well as on passengers of another stopped car.

Two days later, there was a major police operation in the forest. Only one day later, the police returned, under the pretext of wanting to remove an art installation of fire extinguishers within hours after their discovery. This is remarkable, because in the spring they took note over many weeks of a very similar installation with just one fire extinguisher, but ignored it.

The operation was announced by Robert H. by saying “some officers” would come into the forest. With “some officers” he obviously means several hundred, because a police operation with less than 3-4 hundreds seems to be impossible. One and a half hours after they retreated early in the evening, they moved back in and surrounded the tree houses, while at the same time others filmed the meadow.

Meanwhile, a loudspeaker car drove up at Lollytrap (eastern entrance of the forest), just to play the Ride of the Valkyries and chainsaw noises once and then drive off again.
Remark: Hitler was known to be a great Wagner fanatic. The Valkyrie Ride was one of his favorite pieces. In the German weekly newsreel (Deutsche Wochenschau) on May 30, 1941, the Valkyrie Ride was played as background music to recordings of the airborne battle over Crete, as well as to the report of the bombing of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway line. Coincidence?

One day later the same game. Several hundreds besiege tree houses in the west of the forest because they apparently could not complete on Saturday. Some of them seem to be enjoying spraying pepper spray on activists’ toilet paper, others are destroying paths out of boredom (so much for the “escape routes”) and soil structures.

The walk to the prison in Cologne-Ossendorf, where UPIII (Samantha) has been sitting since March (and according to judgment until just before Christmas) because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, is completely arrested.

Monday morning, the meadow is completely surrounded, for several hours people can not go to the toilet, because members of parliament and government officials want to look at the forest.

In Chemnitz, the police are completely overrun by Nazis on the same evening, who hunt down anyone who does not look German enough or whose opinion does not suit them. Tuesday morning we know why: just as many police as in Chemnitz faced thousands of Nazis storm the meadow, where 40 people are found. For every activist came almost 15 cops. Allegedly, they were searching for Molotov cocktails, but they preferred to destroy buildings, arbitrarily taking away phones, legal defense documents, ID cards, canisters, timber and heating wood, all tools, but also e.g. stuff for knitting, soap and two full beer crates.

Since Friday, the police have been checking every one who is leaving Buir towards the north, where the forest is. At times, water was not allowed to be taken, mostly climbing equipment and tools of all kinds are seized. Only after hours of discussion on several days (because “brushes can also be used as spears.”!), two artists finally were allowed to take their approx. 1000 Euros expensive painting equipment into the forest. The repression thus reached a new level of ridicule.
In the Hambi things seem to be normal, for which the Saxon police was rightly reprimanded by their superiors.
The statement of the police that “things of daily needs” may be taken into the forest, is probably interpreted as “what cops use every day”. However, in the armoury of the police we would probably not walk very far…
The police even trample on the right of assembly, which is above the police law, by searching people on the way to the registered vigil and even at the vigil itself.

I think it’s clear who is escalating here unilaterally.

Continue ReadingUnilateral Escalation?!

Demonstration For Hambi, Wed 5.9 Possible Eviction Day

Securing of evidence?This was a house before the so-called securing of evidence. Click for an enlargement

DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF HAMBI 5.9 WED Buir Train-station.

Regardless of, and perhaps especially because of the now 3 weeks of massive police actions: barricade clearings, constant harassment, arrests (now of 26+ all but 2 now released) meadow raid and confiscations, and now the information that large police action might be planned for this Wednesday the response to all this Climate Killing Bullshit has just been freaking phenomenal.  Supporters have been constantly streaming in and despite the searches, bringing over a ton of eviction food and supplies (with tools, pallets and climbing supplies being stolen by the co2ps).  Hundreds have visited, stayed and supported regardless of constant harassment even of the official protest Mahnwache, access to which is “legally” guaranteed without id checks and controls (those pressing this issue have been able to get in without being checked, others have just given their names without presenting ids). Also please remember that the forest is large so it is really hard to cut off all access from outside…

There has been mobilization of countless local support groups, initiatives, and even, yes, NGOs taking on the cause of Hambacher Forest, still more people packing their backpacks and joining the struggle would be good as well.  There has also been explosion of articles and reportage from the forest, all with the exception of local coal press being fairly positive.  This however does not change the fact that the escalation to push the Planet past catastrophic 2 degree climate warming and the run away global warming points of no return continues with at least 6 police vans posted around Hambi trying to control people coming to the forest and evictions and cutting of last portion of the forest being in the works regardless of the official Kohle Kommission coal exit narrative.

So counter balancing possible thousands of Co2ps  on the could be in the forest on this very same day is a valid climate justice and grass roots strategy.  One that can especially lift up the morally and spirits of the forest activists facing police violence, destruction of their homes and of their beloved unique on European scale habitat…

#HambiBleibt #HambacherForst: Please use those hashtags on twitter with updates on the situation from the demo and in case Fossil Fool Herbert Reul’s Co2ps attack Hambi excerpting the highest violence ever extended to all life on this planet, destabilizing the climate and future of the only life bearing world.

Hambi Bleibt!

train schedules for the demo from other cities:

Continue ReadingDemonstration For Hambi, Wed 5.9 Possible Eviction Day