Greta Thunberg, a 21-year-old climate activist, was reportedly detained twice by police after she helped block roads near the Dutch parliament Saturday. The Swedish activist was taking part in a demonstration in The Hague for several hours this weekend.
Thunberg was arrested the first time by local police and detained for a short time along with other protesters who tried to block a major highway. She was released and then joined another small group of protesters who were blocking a different road leading to the railway station. She was then detained a second time.
The protestors under the umbrella of the group Extinction Rebellion attempted to block the A12 highway. Police at first prevented the activists from blocking the thoroughfare, however a small group succeeded in breaking away and subsequently took part in a sit-in on a main road.
The group said they were planning to block the highway for the 37th time in an effort to put pressure on the Dutch government ahead of a planned debate on fossil fuels scheduled for June.
A video posted online shows Thunberg being detained by police.
“We are here because we’re facing an existential crisis,” Thunberg says in the video. “We are in a planetary emergency, and we are not going to stand by and let people lose their lives and livelihood and, of course, become climate refugees when we can do something.”
Thunberg’s popularity first grew in 2018 after she began staging weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament. She has been fined repeatedly in Sweden and the UK for civil disobedience in connection with protests.