Climate activists attacked during protest in Vorarlberg

Angry drivers not only resorted to verbal aggression, but also became violent, as can be seen on a video. Activist Marina Hagen-Canaval (Extinction Rebellion) said she was “shocked” by the attacks. The police are viewing the videos.

At around 10 a.m., seven activists blocked the roundabout on the motorway entrance and exit (A14) in the immediate vicinity of the border crossing to the Swiss municipality of Diepoldsau. According to the police, they sat down on the road and some of them stuck themselves. “Within a very short period of time, a massive traffic disruption occurred on the motorway and Diepoldsauerstrasse and brought all traffic in this area to a standstill,” said the executive.

Dragged off the road

For some road users who were brought to a standstill, this was too much. As can be seen in the video recorded by the activists, several visibly angry drivers approached the activists. Without a long speech, at least two of the protesters – a man and a woman – were pushed down. The man was subsequently hit by a car. He remained lying on the road, whereupon he was unceremoniously dragged off the road by a driver. According to police, three activists suffered abrasions. “It shocks me that people behave this way because of an expected traffic jam that we didn’t cause,” said Hagen-Canaval.

After the Dornbirn district administration dissolved the meeting, the glued activists were removed from the road and carried away. According to the police, they did not want to leave the place voluntarily. An activist was briefly arrested.

The group will not file a complaint against the aggressive drivers, like Hagen-Canaval: “That is not in our interest.” However, the police asked them to make the videos made available. Of course we comply with that.