“Yesterday I was in a group peacefully protesting the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were detained by the police but released later that evening. Protecting the climate is not a crime.” Wrote Swedish activist Greta Thunberg tweeted on Wednesday morning.

Photos and videos of the three police officers who had taken him away from the scene had circulated around the world a few hours ago, drawing more attention to the ongoing conflict between climate activists and police in the small West German village.

For example, environmental activists from the Fridays for Future or Last Generation initiatives have been trying for several weeks to prevent the expansion of the lignite mine in the village of Lützerath. The original residents were forced to leave due to the planned expansion of the mining under RWE management.

While these climate advocates have been occupying the area for a long time, the situation has escalated since last week, when police began clearing the area ahead of the planned expansion. Hundreds of Germans and activists came to the area to support the resistance against the mining plan. Among them is Thunberg, who arrived on Friday. A big demonstration was called to the site the day before.

Thunberg, for example, on Saturday, along with other activists, called the expansion of the Garzweiler mine a betrayal of “present and future generations.” He declared Germany “one of the countries that pollute the most in the world and should be held accountable”.

According to German police, Thunberg’s arrest on Tuesday came after the activist entered and settled with others on the edge of the Garzweiler 2 open pit mine, about five kilometers from Lützerath.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, one of the police officers told the group: “We will use coercive methods to check identity, so we ask for your cooperation”.

See images from the protests.

Law enforcement then took him to police cars in the presence of photographers. He also spent some time alone in a police bus.

However, the police stressed that they did not arrest him and he was released after an identity check. Also, none of those detained will face charges. However, one person jumped into the mine. No information is available about what happened to him.

Thunberg was also detained under less dramatic circumstances on Sunday.

With their actions, protesters are trying to prevent coal from going to thermal power plants and those that contribute to warming the climate by releasing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, energy group RWE insists that coal from this region is needed to supply power plants during the energy crisis, ČTK.

However, Luisa Neubauer, one of the main organizers of the Fridays for Future initiative, contradicts this. He cites an analysis that claims that coal under Lützerath is not essential for energy security.

Protests in support of the German village are also held in other parts of Germany. For example, on Tuesday, members of the Ende Gelände climate movement occupied the Inden coal mine, also operated by RWE, located on the outskirts of the border town of Aachen. About 130 people also blocked the tracks of the train line that takes the coal to the Neurath power plant.

In Düsseldorf, again, around 150 people peacefully marched from the state parliament to the city centre. 15 activists from the Extinction Rebellion initiative tried to block the entrance to the Ministry of Interior building there. In fact, German presenter Deutsche Welle summarizes that three of its members glued themselves to the door or otherwise tied it to the door.

Correction: The original version of the article contained an incorrect map showing the German village of Lützerath. We apologize for the mistake.