Tesla's (TSLA) Berlin Gigafactory was the target of yet another attack by climate protestors against its planned expansion.
According to reports by German news outlets Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle, activists had attempted to break into the Brandenburg factory. Local reports state that several hundred people had gathered from for the demonstration, where some made a bee-line to the facility.
“Multiple unauthorized people are trying to enter the ground of the Tesla factory,” Brandenburg police said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “We are in the process of preventing this.”
Mehrere Personen versuchen unbefugt auf das Tesla-Fabrik-Gelände zu gelangen. Wir sind dabei, das zu verhindern. #grünheide1005
— Polizei Brandenburg (@PolizeiBB) May 10, 2024
According to Ole Becker, a spokesperson for the Disrupt Tesla alliance — one of the groups involved — the demonstrations were to bring awareness to the "environmental destruction" that Tesla brings to not only Germany, but other countries within its supply chain.
"We are here today to draw attention to the Tesla factory in Grünheide for the environmental destruction here in Grünheide," Becker said. "But also for the environmental destruction in countries like Argentina or Bolivia, where lithium is mined that is needed for these batteries and that causes terrible environmental destruction for the people there, but also for the environment."
In a stories highlight marked "Tesla Aktionstag" (Tesla Action Day in English) on the Instagram page of German climate activist group Disrupt Now, activists have documented various organized acts of disruption against Tesla, including the blocking of an old airport used for inventory storage, as well as splattering paint onto finished Tesla Model Y cars.
A spokesperson for the local police in Brandenburg, Germany told CNBC that since May 6, an encampment of protesters outside the Gigafactory grown has significantly grown and peaked during the bank holiday on May 9 and that police intervention by local forces, neighboring states and national forces has led to several arrests.
"There are registered assemblies. We protect the freedom of assembly, of course," a police spokesperson told DW. "But we are also responsible for public order and safety. That means we will also intervene when necessary. "
At the time of the demonstration, Tesla's (TSLA) Gigafactory remained closed due to a holiday on May 9, however, it also asked its workers to remain home on the 10th for their safety. The factory does not produce any cars during Saturday or Sunday.
In response, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on his social media platform that "Something is fishy" about the protests and called the protestors "*that* dumb," alluding that they were part of some sort of conspiracy.
In a response to a post on X about the demonstration by Babylon Bee-associated account Not The Bee, Musk asked "Any idea who is orchestrating and funding this?"
Related: Tesla issues a defense of its industrial footprint amidst pushback in Germany
How did Tesla get here?
The demonstrations on May 10 continues the prior grievances about Tesla's expansion of Gigafactory Berlin, as the company plans to add additional facilities that would help support the factory's production growth, such as a new rail freight depot, storage facilities and an on-site kindergarten.
However, the expansion would require 420 acres of land that is already designated as a water-protection site, including 250 acres of forest clearance.
On the evening of Feb. 28, climate activists calling themselves "Robin Wood" have set up an "occupy-style" encampment consisting of tree houses suspended by rope up to 10 meters in the air in between the trees. The idea of this action is to get in the way of the crews contracted by Tesla to cut down said trees and to make it harder for authorities to rid them from the area.
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"Our goal is to prevent the expansion of the factory in Grünheide because Tesla is stealing water from the local people and endangering the drinking water," an activist named "Caro" told Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb24), translated from German.
A week before the encampment started, over 60% of local residents voted against the automaker's proposed expansion plans of the 740-acre factory. Though the vote was non-binding on paper, the group believes that their local representation will not follow through on the will of the local residents.
On March 5, production at the Gigafactory came to a halt after an act of arson severely damaged a pylon that supplies the factory and surrounding municipalities with power. As a result of the attack, more than 1,000 Model Y vehicles were left in various states of disassembly. In response, Tesla Public Policy and Business Development Vice President Rohan Patel attempted to address some of the concerns raised by activists against the expansion of the Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in a post on X in March 7 describing the position of the factory.
Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin went back online on March 12.
At the time of this writing, Tesla stock trading under TSLA is trading at $169.22, down 1.6% today.
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