Usual showmanship: The controversial activist is theatrical and howls in pain as if he were being tortured Photo: CHRISTIAN MANG/REUTERS
By Michael Behrendt
Are the climate activists playing the wrong cards? A photo series at least gives the impression that demonstrators are deliberately posing as “glued” in order to prolong the police operations.
The activist’s action does indeed look constructed, as the BZ photo spread shows. Do the officials know about the possible fake? The Berlin police disagree.
According to a police spokeswoman, the sticking of activists’ own skin surfaces during blockades is a Europe-wide means of making police measures more difficult and delaying blockades. Fingertips, palms and soles of the feet would be glued to road surfaces or glass panes of buildings.
The frontline activist. He is holding a banner and is apparently not the first time he has taken part in such actions Photo: MICHELE TANTUSSI/REUTERS
When the demonstrator feels he is being watched by the police, he puts his hand on the asphalt as if glued to it Photo: Olaf Wagner
If you look closely, the allegedly glued man has both hands in his lap Photo: MICHELE TANTUSSI/REUTERS
A police officer behaves according to regulations and carefully releases the activist from the ground Photo: Olaf Wagner
The forces of the Berlin police subsequently removed these tapes as quickly as possible, but with the appropriate care. This delays the “restoration of traffic flow”.
In many cases, according to police, the activists use superglue. Colleagues in Paris used muscle power to get the activists off the ground. Capital officials would be more cautious, mostly using cooking oil, which can also be mixed with the solvent acetone. In this way, the adhesions could be loosened in small steps without injuring the attached skin, according to the spokeswoman.
It could not be ruled out that in rare individual cases people merely pretend to have glued themselves. The officials would determine this immediately, the spokeswoman said.
