FIRE & FURY
Inside the ‘Vulkan Group’ anarchist ‘terrorists’ going to war with Elon Musk & Tesla as they spread chaos across Germany
The extremist group has claimed responsibility for arson attacks across the country
A TWISTED far-left militant group has been spreading chaos across Germany for over a decade - with its most recent focus being Elon Musk.
The extremist Vulkan Group claimed responsibility for the arson attack in Tesla's gigafactory in Brandenburg which followed other strikes on Tesla cars and charging stations.
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The Vulkangruppe, or "Volcano group" has been on Berlin's radar since it was founded in 2011.
German authorities listed it as a left-wing extremist organisation, operating in the capital and Brandenburg, according to a 2019 report.
Their usual method is to target railway lines or cable ducts, data lines and radio masts.
The alleged perpetrators tend to claim responsibility in letters signed with nicknames referring to active volcanoes in the world such as "Grimsvotn" or "Katla."
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The anarchist group was classed as "left-extremist" in a follow-up 2021 report that claimed they were trying to gain influence as part of the global climate movement.
It was then that the far-left group shifted its focus to Tesla with an attack that destroyed the plant's power cables at the construction site at Gruenheide in 2021.
Following the recent strike on Tesla's EV plant, the group released a statement calling for the destruction of the site which was signed "Agua De Pau", the name of a volcanic mountain in the Azores.
TESLA PLANT ATTACK
The hit saw an electricity pylon on fire that caused a power outage forcing the manufacturing plant to halt production.
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According to , the cost of the damage amounts to hundreds of millions of pounds.
In a 2,700-word statement published online, the extremist far-left group known as Vulkangruppe said: "We sabotaged Tesla today."
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They described the hit as a gift marking International Women's Day on March 8.
The group accused the firm of contaminating the drinking water and blaming the Tesla boss, 52, for "militarising the road” with cars as a “weapon."
"Together we will bring Tesla to its knees. Switch off for Tesla," their statement reads.
Previous attacks include the damage of a power cable in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 2018.
In 2020, the group claimed responsibility for the burning of a cable shaft stating that the target was the Heinrich Hertz Institute.
At the time the institute was involved in the development of a Covid app.
THE VULKAN'S GOALS
Extremism expert Felix Neumann explains how the anarchist's group mail goal is to underline "how fragile communication and public life is."
He told : " "The group also wants to draw attention to the fact that everything is vulnerable.
"That's why they choose targets that cause power or telecommunications outages not only for large companies like Tesla, but also for the nearby population."
While according to the 2019 Office for the Protection of the Constitution the group's aim is to disrupt public order.
A statement reads: "In this way, the functioning of 'everyday capitalist life' is intended to be disrupted and people are forced to pause."
And it appears the extremist group is bizarrely changing its name depending on the target.
On Tuesday's attack it called itself "Volcano group shutting down Tesla" while in the past it has used "Volcanic Group Against the Progress of Destruction" and "Volcanic Group Shut Down The Power".
There are multiple theories behind the reason the group chooses to change its name Neumann claims.
He explains: "This may mean that it is the same group under a different name.
"But it may also be that there is new leadership within this group who then wants to give new emphasis with this new name."
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Little is known about its members or the organisational structure of the group.
Based on their letters claiming responsibility for the attacks, officials believe the statements are written by a "(partially) identical group of authors".
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