INFO EUROPE 1 - Sabotage, damage, harassment... The clandestine methods of the "Earth Uprisings"

William Molinié 13:20 p.m., March 28, 2023, modified at 13:27 p.m., March 28, 2023

The question of its dissolution could quickly arise. At the origin of the mobilization of the anti-basins which turned into a confrontation with the police last Saturday in Sainte-Soline, the network "The Uprisings of the Earth" (SLT) "incites and participates in the commission of sabotage and material damage," according to a note from the Ministry of the Interior that Europe 1 has consulted.

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This de facto grouping was created in early 2021 by members of the ultra-left from the former ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. According to the intelligence, SLT has developed "a doctrine that aims to present the sabotage operations it initiates or conducts as a means of defending the environment."

18 acts of damage

According to a count by the Ministry of the Interior, 18 acts of clandestine damage or attempts targeting water reservoirs have been recorded since September 2021, "inspired by this speech", notes the Ministry of the Interior.

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Very agile, SLT's strategists would have the aim of getting public opinion to accept the practice of eco-sabotage. Thus, the use of clandestine action, material degradation, is presented as a mode of action, "now shared by the majority of militants who admit the need to coexist classic militancy and destruction operations".

Telephone harassment

The network relies on accounts and social network pages followed by thousands of subscribers and does not hesitate to disseminate practical advice, a kind of user manual, to its activists to operate clandestinely. In October 2021, a video provided a turnkey "tutorial" explaining how to carry out a wild dismantling of a basin.

In addition, SLT regularly designates, according to the services of the Ministry of the Interior, suitable targets presented as "symbols to be combated", in particular by resorting to telephone harassment against companies and farmers in connection with the projects. Last fall, SLT's call for "massive telephone action" against companies engaged on the Sainte-Soline site generated just over 350 calls in just two days. The companies concerned filed harassment complaints.

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Finally, SLT's methods are presented as close, or at least, "inspired by the codes of the Black Bloc": gas mask, umbrellas, hoods... White or blue jumpsuits allow them to evade identification by law enforcement. If the question of legal proceedings against SLT executives has not yet arisen, this could be the next step in the standoff between Place Beauvau and this radical ecologist group that is multiplying actions on the territory.