Eco-activists who glued themselves to the floor of a Volkswagen factory and then complained that their hands hurt and they couldn’t go to the bathroom were jailed.
Late on Wednesday, nine activists from the Scientist Rebellion organization stormed Autostadt, a museum and auto dealership near Volkswagen’s major factory in Wolfsburg, and glued themselves to the floor of the Porsche exhibit.
They promised to keep protesting unless Volkswagen pledged to persuade ministers to decarbonize the transportation industry.
However, after only a few hours, they started to protest that they had no food and that personnel had declined to provide them a bowl to defecate in.
Gianluca Grimalda, who had launched a hunger strike, then started claiming that his hand was bloated and that he was at risk of blood clots after covering it with superglue and sticking it to the floor.
After only one day of protesting, he decided to leave for medical treatment and was detained, just as riot police rushed in to gather up the remaining protesters.
Another protester, Agisilaos Koulouris, tweeted a photograph of dozens of riot cops inside the museum with the comment, ‘They are arresting everyone.’
Scientist Rebellion, an organization that promotes itself as a gathering of scientists ready to speak the truth about the climate issue and act on it, is among the activists.
They are pressing Volkswagen, one of Germany’s top automakers, to do more to combat pollution.
Images of the demonstration circulated online, showing six protesters plastered to the ground in front of three Porsches.
They had also pasted mock-up newspaper front pages on global warming to autos within the dealership.
Together with 15 other members of Scientist Rebellion, he invaded the Porsche pavilion at Autostadt, Mr Grimalda tweeted as the protest began.
Together with 15 other members of @ScientistRebel1 I have occupied the Porsche pavillion at @Autostadt, 9 of us glued to the floor and some of us on hunger strike until our demands to decarbonise the German transport sector are met👉 https://t.co/Y5uo5IicXb @ClimateHuman pic.twitter.com/SUxUy5Q5uq
— gianluca grimalda (@GGrimalda) October 19, 2022
Nine of them are stuck to the floor, and some of them are on hunger strike until their requests to decarbonize Germany’s transportation industry are realized, they say.
Only two hours later, he was claiming that museum workers had refused their request to give them a bowl to pee and defecate in a civilized way while they are glued, and had switched off the heater.
People in support can get out of the building, but they can’t come back in, he continued. They can’t order meals; they have to rely on the one provided by Volkswagen.
Mr Grimalda posted a photograph of his swollen hand after a night of sleeping on the floor, stating that a doctor had been summoned to check him.
Doctors determined the danger of life-threatening blood clots in his hand and advised an emergency transport to a hospital, he claimed.
Obviously, his health comes first. He agreed to leave this great group and was escorted to the hospital.
So, little over a day into the protest, and with none of his requests granted, Mr Grimalda was removed from the pavilion, where protestors claim he was detained.
Just a few minutes later, they’re threatening them that they need to leave quickly or they’ll be arrested, Mr Koulouris tweeted.
Several riot police officers were seen inside the pavilion, and several were arrested outside, thereby ending the demonstration on its second day.
Climate protests have been wreaking havoc across Europe, demanding that governments take action to combat climate change.
