Over 300 climate activists arrested at A10 blockade in Amsterdam, 31 still in custody

A total of 326 climate activists were arrested on Saturday afternoon during the Extinction Rebellion blockade on the A10 near the VUMC hospital in Amsterdam. Of those, 31 people were arrested for causing the blockade and endangering traffic.

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked the A10 highway in Amsterdam for the second time on Saturday around noon, near the former ING headquarters in Amsterdam-Zuid. The activists demand that ING stop all financing and services for the fossil fuel industry. The Amsterdam Triangle (mayor, police and public prosecutor) considered the action extremely dangerous and banned it.

According to XR spokesperson Let de Jong was last year “the hottest year ever measured, we see climate disaster after climate disaster. Yet ING persists in its fossil policy. Since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, which ING says it endorses, the bank has fueled the climate and ecological crisis with almost 60 billion euros in fossil financing. Therefore we have no other choice,” it was said in the press release of the climate action group.

The 31 activists blocked the A10 West with four vehicles at exit S106, two exits before the action area near the 'Poenschoen', as the climate activists call the old headquarters of ING. Several XR activists then came with bicycles and yellow smoke bombs from this exit across the highway to the action area at exit S108. For reasons of road safety, the police said they had no choice but to close the road.

The 295 remaining detainees were taken into custody and removed from the highway. This last group of activists was transported in buses that are normally used for public transportation. They were taken to Amsterdam-Noord to the Only Friends sports club. There, they were all released afterwards, according to a police spokesperson.

However, the other 31 activists are still in custody. The investigation against them is still ongoing, the spokesperson said. Furthermore, the four used cars and bicycles were confiscated as well as glue, cement and tents.