Amsterdam bans Extinction Rebellion's planned A10 roadblock on Saturday

The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, has banned the planned demonstration by Extinction Rebellion (XR) on the A10 motorway this Saturday, just as she did with the other XR blockades on the motorway.

She made this decision along with the head of the district police, and the head of the local branch of the Public Prosecution Service. XR has said that they plan to do the protest anyway, just as was the case in the previous editions.

The three leadership figures feel the protest is irresponsible “due to the high safety risks, insufficient guarantees for unhindered progress of emergency services and the availability of the nearby hospital Amsterdam UMC.” Any demonstrators who decided to go onto the A10 will be removed, the three warned.

The climate activist group announced on Monday that they plan to block the A10 near the old banking building. XR is doing this in order to pressure ING into stopping their financing of the fossil fuel industry.

This would not be the first time that the activists blocked the road. This also happened in February and April of last year. Hundreds of people went onto the motorway, and caused a stop of traffic, even though those blockades were also banned on that occasion.

The Amsterdam leadership figures also pointed out that road works are currently ongoing at the intended protest spot. “This means that parts of the road and the slope will be closed off on January 25 and that building materials and machines are present on site. This makes entering the A10 at this location even more dangerous than before."

For this reason, the mayor has offered the protestors an alternative location: the grass field at the bottom of the former ING building. “This is a spot that fits the intended symbolism without the significant risks and disruption that an A10 blockade causes,” the municipality reported.

XR does not want to use the alternative location. “We want to continue the demonstration at what is, for us, a very important symbolic spot,” said a spokesperson for the activist group. “We always choose the strategy of disruptive action.”

The activists claim that blocking the road is permitted as a part of their right to demonstrate. However, mayors also have the power to revoke that right to maintain public order.

ING’s headquarters has not been at the building by the A10, which has been likened to a shoe due to its shape. Their headquarters are currently on the Bijlmerdreef in Zuidoost.