They erected barricades and dug trenches to prevent her from entering
German police begin evacuating a sit-in camp for environmental activists
The activists sheltered from the rain by sitting under a thick shade.
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A sculpture erected by the activists to commemorate their challenge to restart the mine.
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One of the defensive barriers erected by activists.
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Activists in confrontation with police officers.
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German police have begun evacuating environmental activists who climbed onto tall structures, as part of an operation to clear a sit-in camp that has become a symbol of opposition to fossil fuels.
The population of the village of Lutserrat, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was approximately 100 people, but the people abandoned it during the past years, amid ambiguity about a plan to evacuate them in order to expand the nearby Garzweiler coal mine.
Since the last of its residents left in October 2022, about 1,000 activists have flocked to the village, seeking to prevent it from becoming a coal mine.
Activists erected barricades and dug trenches to prevent police from entering.
Some sat on swings erected high above the ground.
The demonstrators vowed that their defense of the site would be "without limits".
"We left some surprises for the police," said one of them, Joy, 28, adding, "Most people choose passive defense (of the village), but others will act in active defense. There will be no limits."
"It may sound harsh, but there are bigger things that come with climate change. People are dying."
Environmental groups had hoped that Lutserrat would survive the excavations after the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with the participation of the Green Party, took office in December 2021, promising to gradually abandon the use of coal.
But the Russian war in Ukraine caused an energy crisis, forcing Berlin to restart its coal facilities to meet energy demand.
In its search for energy sources, the Scholz government granted permission to the RWA company to expand the mine next to Lotzires.
To clear the camp on the outskirts of the Garzweiler mine, the police must break through barricades and trenches erected by the activists.
Activists have also set up a camp tangled in trees tied with cables and ropes, designed to make evacuation difficult.
In order to avoid harming the protesters, the police have to enter the village using heavy machinery, including cranes equipped with platforms, to remove the activists one by one.
The activists set up their headquarters on a large farm that belonged to the last farmer to leave Lutserrat.
They barricaded the windows and doors to make it difficult for the police to enter.
Activists are preparing for a siege that could last for weeks, and entry into the sit-in camp.
• The population of the village of Lutserrat, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was about 100 people, but the people abandoned it during the past years, amid ambiguity about a plan to evacuate them in order to expand the nearby Garzweiler coal mine.
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