Watch: Cops get stuck in a mud pool as they try to evict climate activists in Germany

Climate activists have surrounded the German village of Lützerath, which is being evicted for the construction of a lignite coal mine.

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Activists have argued that lignite is the most polluting form of coal, and it is not a sustainable answer to the energy crisis especially considering that Germany has many renewable alternatives.

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Amidst tensions prevailing in the small village of Lützerath in West Germany, which is seeing a standoff between climate activists and riot police, a comedic moment bought some relief to climate activists who have occupied the village to prevent its demolition that will pave way for a coal mine.

Since Wednesday, Lützerath is seeing heavy rains that have created pools of mud in the area. Now a video has surfaced that shows a group of riot police getting stuck in one such mud pool and struggling to get out. The video also shows a climate activist, dressed in brown robes, jeering at the police and even pushing one cop to the ground while being able to navigate the mud with much ease. The netizens have named this unknown figure a “mud wizard”.

This video was posted on Twitter by journalist Max Granger (@_maxgranger) on Sunday and it has gathered over 78,000 likes.

cops defending coal mine get stuck in mud #Luetzerath pic.twitter.com/xHJBoukRsN

— Max Granger (@_maxgranger) January 15, 2023

Commenting on the video, a Twitter user wrote, “all hail the mud wizard single-handedly defeating the coppers”. Another person wrote, “In the epic battle between environmental activists and climate change-denying corporations: Mud 1, Riot cops 0.”

As per CNN, in October 2022 the German government gave rights to the RWE, an electricity generation company, to demolish Lützerath for digging a lignite coal mine. In exchange, RWE agreed to accelerate its coal phase-out from 2038 to 2030. In an attempt to justify its decision to support lignite mining, the government and RWE argued that the coal mine will relieve the energy crisis caused due to the war in Ukraine.

However, activists have argued that lignite is the most polluting form of coal, and it is not a sustainable answer to the energy crisis especially considering that Germany has many renewable alternatives. Additionally, relying on fossil fuels in 2023 is in violation of many provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement.