Statement on the accident: It's time to draw a line

We took to the streets because we no longer want to accept the incredible injustice in our society. Because we feel morally obligated to act and not walk into the abyss without seeing our eyes. And because history has shown that peaceful civil resistance works.

We knew that a lot would come our way. We knew we would make a lot of enemies. Because we interrupt people. Because we are disruptive. Because we are making the terrible things public.

We didn't expect that an entire media system would turn against us.

Since Monday, a wave of accusations, untruths and hate speech has broken over us. A wave different than ever before. From private to public media. Previously, we were sold neutral, fact-based reporting as a basic journalistic principle. Today we hardly read, see or hear reporting based on this principle in a single media.

So that we don't misunderstand each other: the fact that the cyclist had an accident in traffic is terrible. We are devastated and in sadness. But it is time to draw a line.

The accident occurred several kilometers from each of our action locations. On the A100 we found ourselves on a sign bridge. The police independently controlled the traffic below and reduced it to one lane. We informed the police before entering the sign bridge and asked for emergency vehicles to be redirected and the A100 to be completely closed to car traffic. We always have an emergency lane in all of our protests. The what-is. And now?

The media public exploits the cyclist's accident. We can't believe that.
As if a hook had finally been found to drag our peaceful protest through the mud. Is it comprehensible that a media landscape that takes up the cause of educating society would fictitiously exaggerate a situation in this form and thus delegitimize democratic protest in a crisis situation?

We know that our protest is unpleasant in many ways. Every day we confront people with what we would all like to ignore. That disturbs. But the fact that we can't rely on even the simplest principles in a democracy - like neutral, fact-based reporting - shocks us.

But we don't have that in our hands. What we have control over is what we do ourselves. May private media continue to incite violence against us. May journalists from public media continue to insult us on the phone.

Whatever public agitation we may encounter as human beings will not dissuade us from doing the only morally right thing: not to remain in an all-important crisis, but to get going.

The federal government should end our protest – now – by getting the crisis under control.
Until then, the resistance continues.