A horde of militant leftists stormed the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin on Friday.
Footage from the scene of the mob action showed a crowd of black-clad activists breaching police lines and running toward the building.
The Anti-Tesla activists brake through the police lines and reach the fence of #Gigafactory. Police seems disoriented.#DisruptTesla #Grünheide pic.twitter.com/ir64DfY8qL
— the brake (@TheBrakeNet) May 10, 2024
The crowd reached the gate of the facility but didn’t obtain interior access, according to The Telegraph.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk rebuffed claims that the protestors had stormed the factory itself.
“This is fake news,” he said in a post on his X social media platform.
“Protesters did not manage to break through the fenceline,” Musk said. “There are still 2 intact fence lines all around.
“Note, this is ‘National Protest Week’ in Germany, so there are a lot of protests for many different reasons.”
This is fake news.
Protesters did not manage to break through the fenceline. There are still 2 intact fence lines all around.
Note, this is “National Protest Week” in Germany, so there are a lot of protests for many different reasons.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024
Several arrests were made in connection to the incident, The Telegraph reported. It said paramedics had treated injured protesters and police officers.
Tesla staff assigned to the factory were told to work from home Friday.
Climate protestors tried to break into Tesla’s German Gigafactory earlier today, local police told CNBC’s @SKiderlin.
Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg was already in a 1-day production shutdown, with Tesla telling staff not to show up due to protests. https://t.co/gJtJU3RJaK
— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) May 10, 2024
The factory has been the target of criminal action before.
An act of arson cut power to the facility in March, with German prosecutors investigating the possibility of terrorism in the incident, according to The Associated Press.
Musk said of the protesters Friday, “These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.”
He cited Tesla’s production of electric vehicles, rather than those powered by fossil fuels, in questioning the motives of those responsible.
These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.
Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024
Between 50 and 100 people were camping in a forest near the Brandenburg facility with the intent of protesting or disrupting its operations, according to Wired.
Radical activists storm Tesla gigafactory near Berlin
Storming under a red flag with the slogan “Disrupt capitalism, create future!”
Some 1,200 activists from across Europe gathered outside a factory in the village of Grünheide near Berlin on Thursday, Bild reported. They set… pic.twitter.com/RqcpxPp4Py
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 10, 2024
Tesla is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles.
