‘Wizard’ Taunts Riot Police Struggling in Mud

Lützerath, Germany: Lützerath is a hamlet in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, between Aachen and Düsseldorf. In 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the expansion of the Garzweiler surface mine; the opencast mining of Garzweiler II will destroy Lützerath and eventually replace it with a lake. A farmer contested the plans which were approved by the higher administrative court in Münster. Climate activists moved to the village, squatting on empty farms and occupying treehouses. To save the village, a campaign called "Lützerath lebt" (Lützerath lives) began.

In October 2022, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that RWE would phase out coal mining in the region by 2030, but Lützerath would still be demolished. Preparations for the eviction began in January 2023.

[Video posted on Twitter by @_maxgrangeru on January 15, 2023, footage is probably from Saturday, January 14]