A left-wing extremist group known as the Vulkangruppe has claimed responsibility for sabotaging a Tesla factory outside of Berlin on Tuesday, forcing the facility to shut down production.
Power was shut down after a suspected arson attack by a radical German leftist organisation called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group), which claimed responsibility for sabotaging a high-voltage power pylon near a Tesla gigafactory in the Berlin suburb of Grünheide.
Update 03/08/24 — German Counter-Terror Police Take Over Investigation
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office took over the investigation into the attack on the power supply to the Tesla factory on Friday, Die Welt reports, stating that they are looking into potential terror offences. The paper also states police believe the letter issued by the left-wing group claiming the sabotage is genuine.
Further, the sabotage was more effective than previously thought, and the Tesla factory is still shut down due to being disconnected from the power grid. The paper notes there is “massive damage” to the power pylon and power supply — which has also impacted tens of thousands of local residents, as well as the industrial park — won’t be fully restored until the end of next week.
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The attack is just the latest incidence of a growing trend of left-wing sabotage against the modern world in Europe, with actors cutting power and data cables supplying cities, railways, and factories.
Police said that the pylon was set on fire, shutting off power at the factory as well as numerous small towns in the surrounding area. A Tesla spokeswoman said that production was shut down and most of its 12,500 employees were sent home, broadcaster NTV reports.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (L) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) reacts as they attend the start of the production at Tesla’s “Gigafactory” on March 22, 2022 in Gruenheide, southeast of Berlin. – US electric car pioneer Tesla received the go-ahead for its “gigafactory” in Germany on March 4, 2022, paving the way for production to begin shortly after an approval process dogged by delays and setbacks. (Photo by Patrick Pleul / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Following the power outage, the Vulkangruppe declared: “We sabotaged Tesla today” in an apparent confession letter seen by the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
“Tesla eats earth, resources, people, labour and spits out SUVs, killing machines and monster trucks. Our gift for March 8th is to shut down Tesla,” the leftist group said.
The Vulkangruppe went on to accuse Tesla boss Elon Musk — whom they dubbed “Misery Musk” — of being a “technofascist” and said that the shutdown of the gigafactory was a step towards “liberation from patriarchy”.
They went on to call for leftists worldwide to attack Tesla cars on the road, saying: “Every activist’s secret poetry album shouldn’t miss a beaten-up Tesla. No Tesla in the world should be safe from our flaming rage. Every Tesla that burns sabotages the Imperial way of life.”
The far-left group has a history of attacking the Tesla site in Grünheide, claiming responsibility in 2021 for another arson attack on high-voltage power cables used to power the construction of the factory. So far, no suspects have been identified or prosecuted.
Commenting on the sabotage on Tuesday, Tesla chief Elon Musk said on X: “These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals. Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm.”
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen said: “If the initial findings are confirmed, this will be a perfidious attack on our electricity infrastructure. That will have consequences. Here, thousands of people were cut off from basic services and put in danger.
“The constitutional state will react to such an act of sabotage with the utmost severity. Nothing can be said about the perpetrators yet, so I would warn against hasty speculation. Now we need to concentrate and work with all our strength to clear up the incident. The State Criminal Police Office has started the investigation.”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser — who herself has been linked to far-left extremists — said: “If a left-wing extremist motive is confirmed, then this is further evidence that the left-wing extremist scene does not shy away from attacks on critical energy infrastructure… This shows enormous criminal energy.”
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