Dutch police arrested over 1500 climate protesters after a climate protest garnered thousands of participants in the Hague, the Netherlands’ seat of government.
The protest was called for by Extinction Rebellion, a group that originated in the UK which uses non-violent albeit disruptive protest methods to raise climate awareness.
Protesters blocked a section of a motorway, near the base of both the Dutch parliament and the prime minister’s offices. Extinction Rebellion said some 7,000 took part.
Niet iedereen is onder de indruk van de politieinzet van de gemeente Den Haag.
Wij blijven terugkomen. #A12 #StopFossieleSubsidies pic.twitter.com/qlqsvrNXe7
— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) May 27, 2023
Europe grapples with Last Generation climate protests
Over the last week, climate activists featured heavily in the European news cycle.
In Germany, police and prosecutors launched their first nationwide crackdown on the Last Generation group with raids on May 24. The climate activists are charged with the “formation or support of a criminal organization” in Munich, which led to home searches and the shutdown of their website.
Four days earlier, Last Generation activists in Italy had staged an attention-grabbing protest, pouring a black liquid, charcoal diluted with water, into the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Their banner demanded “an immediate end to public subsidies for all fossil fuels.”
