Pro-Palestinian activists climbed atop Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate and unfurled a large banner on Thursday before police arrested them. Six activists wearing work vests and using a rented cherry-picker truck drove onto the tourist-packed square at noon, with three of them quickly using the lift to get on top of the 26-metre-tall structure.
"It happened very quickly," Berlin police spokesperson Florian Nath told AFP at the site. "We were here within minutes, but the basket was already on its way up, and we didn't stop it then because it's too dangerous in case something happens or people fall out." The activists on top of the gate unfurled a banner reading "Never again genocide, freedom for Palestine". They also lit flares and shouted slogans.
The other three activists, meanwhile, locked themselves in the cab of the truck, with police smashing a window to forcibly arrest them. A special police rescue team climbed up the Brandenburg Gate to detain the activists and bring them back down in an operation that lasted about an hour and a half, Nath said.
All six activists were detained on suspicion of trespassing and a number of other violations, Nath said. He added that investigators were still checking whether the cherry picker had done any damage to the 18th century gate. Thursday's incident was not the first time protesters or others have illegally climbed the landmark, a well-known symbol of Germany located near the heart of Berlin's government district.
"We've had that happen quite a few times," Nath said. "Our rescue team is very familiar with the routes up there. They're very experienced."
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