The blockade of the A10 South by climate activists was preceded by extensive preparation by the municipality. Despite a ‘pleasant conversation’, the municipality was unable to convince Extinction Rebellion to adapt the plan. Nevertheless, the triangle (mayor, police and justice) was very satisfied with its own performance afterwards. This is evident from documents that the municipality released following a Woo request from AT5.
On November 17, 2023, Extinction Rebellion announces its intention to block the A10 South, near the old ING office, on December 30 that year. That evening, Halsema told AT5 that she wanted to discuss the announced action with the organization. She did not announce a ban that day.
More than a week later, on November 27, officials from the municipality of Amsterdam spoke online with officials from The Hague. Amsterdam hopes to learn from the many A12 blockages that The Hague has had to deal with.
Not made public
Amsterdam officials will continue to work in the first two weeks of December on various scenarios (four in total) about the possible course of action on December 30. Parts of this are discussed in the triangle (police, justice and municipality). The scenarios have been blackened out in the Woo request and have not been made public by the municipality.
AT5
From a discussion note from a meeting of the triangle on December 4, it can be concluded what the thinking was for the approach:
The triangle will meet on December 18 to discuss action prospects. What exactly is discussed there and what the perspective for action is is not clear from the Woo request. This too has not been made public and has been covered up. An official writes about the triangular meeting in an email: “A lot has been said again, hopefully this is as complete a picture as possible. If you have any comments, do not hesitate!”
AT5
During the council meeting, Halsema expressed her concerns about the emergency and emergency services, because the VUmc is close to the demonstration location. On December 14, she said about this in response to questions from JA21 councilor Cas van Berkel: “I have concerns about the safety of patients. Let there be no misunderstanding. The hospital in particular must remain easily accessible at all times.”
But on December 5, an official gave a different opinion by email. “The triangle would like to know how easy it is to divert the emergency and emergency services. It seems to me that this is not insurmountable, given the previous closures.” By this, the official is probably referring to the work on the Zuidasdok project, for which the A10 South was also closed previously.
Conversations
Several conversations will follow between Extinction Rebellion and the municipality. The first consultation will take place at City Hall with officials on Friday, December 8. A week later, an appointment was canceled because there was no new information to discuss, officials wrote.
On December 21, Halsema himself has an appointment with four representatives of the climate activists, including their lawyer. Behind the scenes, officials then work on the so-called Wom letter (Public Manifestations Act) and a press release stating that the demonstration on the A10 South is prohibited. At the end of the morning on December 22, Extinction Rebellion emailed the mayor that they were allowing the demonstration to continue. That same afternoon, Halsema announced that she was banning the demonstration.
Because the municipality expects ‘serious nuisance’, the environmental zone system is being deported. Normally license plates are scanned and owners of vehicles that the municipality considers too polluting will be fined. An official reacts with surprise: “Didn’t know that setting off an environmental zone was also allowed ;-)”
But it is necessary, writes another official in response to his email. “If we don’t turn it off, there is a good chance that people will be forced to choose a different route due to the infarction in Amstelveen and will therefore end up in the zone and receive a citation, and of course they will object to this again, causing us to have to do unnecessary work. .”
Good luck
The GVB warned its own employees on December 27 of ‘very major inconvenience’ caused by the demonstration. “It will be extremely busy this day for the CCV (Communication Center for Transport, ed.) and Amsterdam,” an executive emails. “All other lines will also have to deal with extreme traffic and cancellations due to advanced buses. Good luck!”
AT5
On December 30, the day of the demonstration, there appear to be four consultation moments between Frank Paauw (chief police commissioner), Rene de Beukelaer (chief public prosecutor) and Marjolein Moorman (deputy mayor). Together they then form the so-called triangle. Mayor Halsema himself is not in the Netherlands that day. The first meeting is at 12 noon, the time when the demonstration is supposed to start and when the demonstrators are waiting at the guardrail.
“The surrounding road network is having a hard time”
Triangle consultation report December 30, 2023
The decision to place red crosses above the highway is left to Rijkswaterstaat. “Rijkswaterstaat is assessing the safety of the current situation with demonstrators on the roadside. No action yet from the triangle.” Forty-five minutes later the triangle comes together again. Then about 400 to 500 demonstrators walked onto the A10 South. It leads to ‘significant delays’ in West and Nieuw-West. “The surrounding road network is having a hard time,” says a report of the triangle’s consultation.
The next meeting will not take place until 2:30 PM. It is also discussed that there are also about ten children and a dog on the highway. Furthermore, a number of German demonstrators have been spotted and some climate activists do not want to talk to officers. The triangle decides to disband the demonstration from 3 p.m. and to start requisitioning and arresting demonstrators fifteen minutes later. At 4 p.m. it is announced that this is going ‘prosperously and orderly’.
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Satisfaction in group whatsapp triangle
AT5
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Satisfaction in group whatsapp triangle
AT5
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Satisfaction in group whatsapp triangle
AT5
Afterwards, the triangle’s group WhatsApp contains compliments about the actions of the police, who used little or no force. Halsema writes that it was ‘done and went very well’. “Images of smiling police officers and demonstrators walking along: just imagine that.” De Beukelaer: “It went well, the police did a very good job.” Moorman is also proud. “What professionalism. Really hats off!”
About 400 activists were arrested at the demonstration, but their details were not recorded and they were not punished. The documents also show that De Beukelaer did not intend to fine them in advance. Prosecuting them would also not be likely, the judge would not quickly impose punishment on ‘peaceful demonstrators’.
The activists were taken to Noord in buses and left there. The highway was closed between about 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, February 24, Extinction Rebellion blocked the A10 South again. They were removed earlier, but the A10 South was still closed for about three hours.
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2024-02-27 21:44:00
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