Police confiscate ‘weapons’ during night raid
Police said the confiscated tools were ´peculiar´ (Photo: Ada Lee)Police in Copenhagen seized a number of tools from a protest group’s building during a night
By Sjoerd Klumpenaar
According to a Climate Justice Action (CJA) spokesperson Tannie Nyboe, some 200 policemen entered a building next to their accommodation at around 3am on Wednesday morning, and searched for weapons. “It became clear quite soon that they couldn’t find what they were looking for.” Instead, said Nyboe, the police confiscated a number of tools which the protesters said were for putting up tents, as well as a number of posters with CJA schedules printed on them.
Copenhagen Police described the seized tools as ‘the most peculiar tools we’ve ever seen’. At a press meeting the police showed off shields, balloons filled with paint, and wire cutters.
“This organization might have attracted people with another view on how to demonstrate,” said Henrik Suhr, spokesperson for Copenhagen Police. He refused to disclose how the police knew about the tools. “We have our ears and eyes, and we’re running our own investigations,” was all he would say.
The raid has angered CJA: “It was really intimidating to be woken up by police coming in and searching through the building. I think this gives a very bad impression of the Danish police to all our international friends,” said Nyboe.
CJA said they regretted the incident because there was a ‘strong and positive’ dialogue going on between them and the Copenhagen Police. Despite their disappointment CJA say that their contact with Copenhagen Police about planned action will remain the way it was.
During a seminar at KlimaForum today CJA once again described their plans for the rest of the summit, mentioning direct action against the Ministry of Defence on Monday and a plan to enter the Bella Center during the final days of the summit.
On handouts they proclaimed they would “take over the conference … and disrupt and open a space inside the UN area.”
