The dismissed climate mayor, who was in the news a lot last week, turned up in Castricum today. Together with a handful of other activists, Trees Lammers demanded in the hall of the town hall that the municipality declare a ‘climate emergency’. However, they were hardly noticed by anyone: the town hall is closed after 12:00 on Friday. “The activists have now left and one of the activists has been dragged out of town hall by an agent,” an activist told NH Nieuws.
Just before noon, the banners are rolled out and one of the Extinction Rebellion activists picks up the megaphone: “We demand that the municipality tell the honest story about the climate and declare a climate emergency.” But it is not clear who hears that message.
City Hall closes to the public on Fridays at 12:00 noon. The desk employees therefore calmly pack their things and turn off the light at the reception. Those who remain in the hall are the activists and some press.
Watch in the video below how it went in the hall (text continues below)
It is not the first time that Extinction Rebellion (XR) has protested in this town hall. March last year they stood in the hall with the same banner and demand. “That ultimately led to a citizens’ initiative that was discussed in the city council,” explains Lucas Winnips of XR Castricum. “It just hasn’t been adopted, so we’re back.”
Police must free us
Lucas and Trees Lammers threatened to chain themselves to a pole in the hall if their demand was not granted. “We will then go into lock-on and the police must free us,” said Trees. It didn’t get that far in the end. No one has been arrested, a city spokesman said.
Some of the activists will also be at the large climate protest at Schiphol tomorrow.