Greenpeace protest against Musk and Trump at Tesla store in Czechia
Activists with the Greenpeace organisation climbed onto the roof of the Tesla customer centre in Čestlice on June 11th, with banners and an image of Donald Trump and Elon Musk setting the world on fire.
Among those on the ground in front of the store were the actress Antonia Formanová, granddaughter of director Miloš Forman, and the writer Jiří Stránský. To understand Greenpeace’s motivations and goals, Danny Bate spoke to the head of the ‘Time to Resist’ campaign in Czechia, Miriam Macurová.
How was the protest in Čestlice yesterday connected to the wider world and work of Greenpeace?
“Our protest yesterday was in the showroom of Tesla in the Czech Republic, in Prague. We were protesting against the chaos that the billionaires like Trump and Musk are causing in society, in democracy, and also in the protection of the environment.
“We were protesting against billionaires because another billionaire who is very close to Trump and his administration is also Kelcy Warren, the chairman of the fossil-fuel company Energy Transfer Partners, who is suing Greenpeace in the USA for $660 million, just because they were supporting an indigenous protest against the building of fossil-fuel infrastructure in 2017. So this is a bigger case that is affecting the whole Greenpeace network.
“We wanted to show how billionaires are causing trouble for democracy, the right to protest, and the right to free speech. This was the wider message behind why we went there.
“The protest that we did yesterday is part of the wider global campaign that Greenpeace in a lot of countries around the world is doing, called ‘Time to Resist’. It will show the case that Greenpeace in the USA is facing from Energy Transfer Partners, and also the case in which we are using anti-SLAPP legislation to fight back and fight for the freedoms of speech and the freedom to protest.”
You were there on the ground in Čestlice. What happened? And what was the atmosphere like?
“The whole activity went as planned. We had the activists on the roof with the big banner, on which it was written, “Our world is not your toy: #TimeToResist”, to connect it to the global campaign. On the ground we had a big picture of Trump and Musk, setting our planet on fire. There were also two other people who were changing the small banners with the Tesla logo, putting on our banners with the faces of Musk and Trump and with the slogan “Stop the Billionaire Takeover”.
“The whole protest took around four hours, more or less. The police were also there, and we were talking to them and negotiating, so everything went well. The whole point of the protest was to show what the problem is and to bring attention to it. We also saw in the last few days the big public drama between Trump and Musk. That also shows us how this is all a mess, and how they are just adding to the mess they are making for democracy, the protection of the environment and so on.”
Greenpeace is an organisation that has many fans in this country, but also many critics. What would you say to people critical of the actions of Greenpeace yesterday?
“When we were looking through people’s comments, maybe most of the criticism was that the people thought we were protesting against Tesla itself, the company. This is what we were trying to say very clearly; it wasn't targeted at the electric cars of Tesla or Tesla itself.
“We chose it as a symbolic place for Elon Musk. He is one of the faces of billionaires, as the wealthiest person in the world. We chose it to show how he's like causing the mess in politics when no one voted for him. He was just in the Trump administration, and he was there when Trump made all of these decisions about losing environmental protection.
“So it was a symbolic place, to connect it like the most visible face representing the billionaire class. But with that we also wanted to talk about the billionaires in general. It's not only Musk, but he is the wealthiest person. We can see in his actions how he's like using and misusing his power and the money he has to do what he wants with the world. So that was exactly how we connected it to the banner; we don't think that the world is their toy, and they they can do whatever they want, just because they have the influence and the money.
“I was talking about the big case, how Energy Transfer Partners is suing Greenpeace in the USA for supporting a non-violent, indigenous protest against the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This issue is called SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). They are misusing this to silence Greenpeace, because Greenpeace is like the biggest environmental network in the world.
“Now, Greenpeace International is taking a step forward. We are using the new European anti-SLAPP legislation. It should protect NGOs, scientists, journalists against SLAPP. The European legislation was approved last year, and the case in which Greenpeace International is suing Energy Transfer Partners is the first case in which this anti-SLAPP legislation is used in Europe. The court case is going to start on July 2nd of July in the Netherlands. This is also a big momentum, not only for Greenpeace, but for the wider movement and also for the fight for the freedoms to speak and to protest.”
