At the end of August, 800 people were arrested as over 6,000 climate justice activists gathered in western Germany for the Rhineland Climate Camp, taking part in different protests against brown coal mining in the area. The arrests came during the Ende Gelände (‘Here and No Further’) weekend of mass civil disobedience involving 3,000 people. Affinity groups crossed fields (see above) to enter the Tagebau Garzweiler lignite coal mine or to block coal trains to the nearby Neurath power plant. Hundreds of activists were injured by police brutality including the indiscriminate use of pepper spray. Organisers took five campaigners with broken bones to hospital. Seven police officers are also said to have suffered injuries. Separately, Friends of the Earth organised a 3,000-strong human chain to draw a ‘red line’ against coal, and 200 people from KohleErSetzen (‘Replace Coal’) blocked access roads to the power station.
