Activists who glued themselves to car dealership complain when staff turn off lights and heating

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By Carina Murphy

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Climate activists in Germany found themselves in a dark place during a recent protest.

According to the Daily Mail, the Scientist Rebellion campaigners were not happy when they were left without light or heating after gluing themselves to a car dealership.

The activists - who represent a collection of academics calling for climate revolution - aimed to make a statement by supergluing themselves to the concrete floor of the Porsche pavilion in Autostadt and the Volkswagen luxury cars exhibit in Wolfsburg.

Employees allowed the campaigners to continue their protest throughout the day. However, when it was time for them to clock off, the staff members switched off the heating and lights in the dealership and headed home.

This didn't sit well with the protestors, one of whom took to Twitter to complain about the poor conditions.

Gianluca Grimalda began by describing the protest. "Together with 15 other members of Scientist Rebellion I have occupied the Porsche pavilion at Autostadt," he tweeted, adding: "Nine of us glued to the floor and some of us on hunger strike until our demands to decarbonize the German transport sector are met."

Watch Gianluca Grimalda explain the protest below: 

However, as time went on, Grimalda became increasingly disgruntled about the lack of support from employees in the dealership.

"They refused our request to provide us with a bowl to urinate and defecate in a decent manner while we are glued, and have turned off the heating," he wrote.

"We can't order our food, we must use the one provided by Volkswagen," the activist continued. He also pointed out that police and security guards had harassed himself and his fellow protestors, tweeting: "Lights off. Random unannounced checks by security guards with bright torches. Police just came in,"

After spending the night inside the dealership, Gianluca regrettably had to leave the protest because of the "possible life-threatening" damage that had been caused to his body by gluing his hand to the floor.

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Scientists Rebellion protestors in the Netherlands. Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

"Doctors ascertained the possibility of life-threatening blood clots in my hand and recommended an immediate transfer to a hospital," he said.

"My health is of course paramount. I accepted to leave this wonderful group and was taken to hospital, continuing my hunger strike," the activist added.

According to their website, the protest group has targeted German industry because the country's "economy has benefited much more than others from burning fossil fuels and exploitation of resources".

The activist organization also accused the German government of failing "badly at achieving its climate and biodiversity targets".

Featured Image Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy