German police deploy at Tesla protest camp amid ongoing construction
German police were deployed at a protest camp near the Tesla factory outside Berlin on Tuesday amid ongoing construction work by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.
"As part of construction work by Deutsche Bahn, Brandenburg state police were asked for support to secure the area," said a police spokesman.
Police officers secured the construction site to ensure that the work posed no danger to bystanders and could proceed unhindered, he said.
The protest camp taking place in an adjacent area could continue so long as it remained peaceful, police said.
Since February, Tesla opponents have been protesting in a wooded area against the planned expansion of the electric car factory in Grünheide near Berlin.
Deutsche Bahn is building a 3-kilometre-long road as part of its initial preparations of the construction of infrastructure facilities to improve rail-traffic access.
The Tesla opponents said that a large police presence and a helicopter appeared overnight.
"They started fencing off the assembly area, setting up floodlights and construction machines and cutting down the first trees," said a spokeswoman for the Stop Tesla initiative, which alleges that the huge plant poses risks to the environment.
