Anyone who wanted to come to Hamburg from the south this Saturday needed a lot of patience. Not only was the Elbe tunnel completely closed as announced, but the remaining access via the Elbe bridges was paralyzed for hours. This was not due to the diversions or an accident there, but to an action by climate activists of the last generation, also known as "climate glue". According to the police, four people stuck themselves to the road with quick-setting concrete around noon, and three more sat down. The backlog of the only motorway access to the Hanseatic city went as far as the Seevetal, 20 kilometers away.
The lane towards Hamburg has now been reopened. What remains is a lot of frustration on both sides. The last generation complained on Twitter about several incidents. A video of a man wearing a blue jacket from the Hamburg forwarding company Garbe, who first pulled one of the activists off the road and then kicked him in the stomach, is circulating online.
The Hamburg police explained to the star that several reports had already been received in this case, which are now being investigated by the criminal police. Michael Garbe, owner of the forwarding agency, explained on request: "We are absolutely against violence and our driver is of course not allowed to react like that. The video only shows the part with the violence - but not what happened beforehand. We are also for it Climate protection, but cannot endorse these actions by the activists. The matter has been handed over to the police and is being closely examined. I only know the driver as a particularly polite, level-headed and peaceful employee who has never been conspicuous."
The activists also complain about the actions of the police themselves. Another video, also from the Last Generation, shows how officers from the Hamburg police force try to get one of the activists to get up. He screams in pain but doesn't seem to cooperate. In the video, one of the officers can be heard saying several times – in a calm tone – to get up. To the apparently painful grip of the police, he says: "I won't carry you. It's getting worse and worse, get up now. I'll let go as soon as you get up".
The police are also investigating the climate activists who blocked access to the city for hours. A spokesman for the control center was unable to spontaneously assess the penalties for the intervention in road traffic and the unregistered action.
According to "NDR", the police finally managed to get the "climate stickers" off the street together with specialists from the so-called "technical train". The asphalt around the hands of the activists had been cut open for this purpose. The interfaces were then sealed again.
The police informed the NDR that reports had not only been received against the truck driver. Other motorists were also said to have become violent. The police are also checking whether some supporters of the last generation are already threatened with a longer stay in custody.
The activists write: "We will not stand up until the federal government convenes a social council that works out a just way out of the climate catastrophe." Doesn't sound like the last blockade in the port city. The backlog has now been reduced to around five kilometers.
