Protests are nothing new. For centuries protesters have raged against the machine, fighting political oppression and social injustice. Unfortunately, protesting has turned into a cottage industry in many countries, with paid professionals interrupting sporting events, concerts, political events, and just about anywhere that will get attention.
In the United States in 2020, paid protesting boomed into a full-time gig for Antifa and BLM protesters. Much of the destruction done to some American cities was instigated by outside provocateurs that would whip up the locals, then pile back into their vehicles and head out of town on to their next job.
In Europe, there is a different, more subtly annoying form of protesting booming in popularity. Eco-protesters have taken to interrupting soccer matches, tennis matches, and anything else to get their message on screen. However, a much more dangerous form of protesting is becoming increasingly popular.
A climate group that dubs themselves “The Last Generation” has taken to blocking streets in Germany, often with unintentionally hilarious results. The group has even gone as far as to cement their hands to public streets in order to stop traffic.
Recently the same group blocked air traffic at two German airports by gluing themselves to the runway, causing delayed and canceled flights. The airline delays happened in Hamburg and coincided with the first day of Summer school vacations.
As weary travelers and motorists tire of the group’s antics, some have taken more extreme steps to clear the highway so they can go about their business. One woman, in particular, has gone viral for picking up the trash from the street by her hair.
In the town of Bottrop, Germany, climate activists were seen sitting in the street blocking traffic. As patience with the group’s nonsense wears thin, a leggy blonde can be seen screaming at a female protester to “get up” out of the street.
The protester stoically declines, and the tall, blonde woman, clearly at the end of her patience, grabs the hapless woman by the hair and drags her out of the road like a sack of trash. When the protester returns to the road and resumes her protest, the woman once again snags a handful of hair and drags the protester to the side of the road.
The woman sustained minor injuries in the incident, and authorities are looking into it, but the only arrests so far are of the protesters, as all of them were taken into custody.
While the video has gone viral and delighted viewers everywhere, German Transportation Minister Volker Wissing was not amused by the group’s shenanigans. He said : “The Last Generation isn’t protecting the climate, they’re engaged in criminal activity.”
It has become an annoying, dangerous habit; protesters standing or sitting in the road or gluing themselves to stationary objects. Instead of engaging in actual useful discourse, protesters have been taking the easier route and simply disrupting hard-working people.
How is inconveniencing a family trying to take a Summer vacation or halting traffic so people can’t go to work saving the environment? It isn’t. It is just making people more impatient, as evidenced by our protestor-dragging heroine.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video.
