Greta Thunberg Detained Defending German Village From Coal Mining

After arriving in Germany last week to support local campaigners battling the expansion, 20-year-old Thunberg joined activists staging a sit-in nearly six miles from the Lützerath, at the edge of the mine owned by energy utility RWE.

"Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. However, she was then stopped and carried by us with this group out of the immediate danger area to establish their identity," a spokesperson for Aachen police told Reuters, noting that one activist jumped into the mine.

According to Reuters:

It was not yet clear what would happen to Thunberg or the group she was detained with, or whether the activist who jumped into the mine was injured, the spokesperson said, adding the police would provide an update within the hour.

Thunberg was carried away by three policemen and held by one arm at a spot further away from the edge of the mine where she was previously sat with the group.

She was then escorted back towards police vans.

As Common Dreams previously reported, while visiting Lützerath on Friday, Thunberg said that it was "horrible to see what's happening here" and called out the "outrageous... police violence" occurring in the area.

"We expect to show what people power looks like, what democracy looks like," she vowed. "When governments and corporations are acting like this, destroying the environment, putting countless people at risk, the people step up."

On Saturday, the Fridays for Future founder joined thousands of people who rallied against the destruction of Lützerath. The New York Times noted that police used "water cannons and nightsticks to prevent protesters from charging the site, even though by then the village was virtually empty and many of its trees already felled."