Around 1000 people take to the streets in Essen to demonstrate against coal mining in Lützerath. It remains largely peaceful – apart from two minor incidents.
According to the police, a good 1,000 people in Essen asked the energy company RWE not to mine the coal under Lützerath in the Rhineland. On Saturday, after a rally, climate activists marched through the city center and demanded that the coal under Lützerath must remain in the ground. The slightly more than 1000 participants moved to the RWE headquarters and formed a human chain there, said a police spokesman on Sunday. In January, the town of Lützerath, which was occupied by climate activists, at the Garzweiler open-cast lignite mine was cleared over a period of days. RWE wants to excavate coal there.
The demo was mostly quiet, but there were two minor incidents during the protest, the spokesman said. In two places – near the main train station and shortly before arriving at the RWE headquarters – pyrotechnics were ignited in underpasses. From a smaller group of 15 to 20 people, some would have violated the ban on face masks. Personal details were recorded and procedures initiated.
In Essen, the demonstrators demanded that RWE stop lignite mining, otherwise the agreed climate targets could not be achieved. The protest in front of the gates of the company headquarters was peaceful.
