Overview

Greta Thunberg Arrested In Germany, also known as Greta Thunberg Being Carried by Police, refers to reports that climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested at a January 2023 protest outside of Lützerath, Germany against the demolition of the town of Lützerath to expand a coal mine. Thunberg's arrest was reported on January 17th and went viral alongside photographs of her being arrested, particularly one in which she's smiling while being carried away by German police that later became an exploitable image macro. The arrest inspired memes, some referencing Andrew Tate and the false rumor that he was arrested as a result of posting a video criticizing Thunberg in which he showed a pizza box from a Romanian pizza chain. Following her arrest, rumors also spread online that Thunberg faked the arrest or that it was staged.

Background

On January 17th, 2023, multiple news outlets, including CNN,^[1] reported that climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained alongside other protestors at a protest about 5.6 miles outside of Lützerath, Germany over the demolition of the town of Lützerath in order to expand a coal mine. A video of Thunberg being carried from the protest area by police, smiling while people took photos of her, started to spread online that day (shown below). Later that day, Reuters^[2] then reported that she was released by German police after a "brief detention" and an identity check.

Online Reactions

Following reports of her arrest, people began reacting to the news online. On January 17th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @tayallard shared a photo of her being carried by police, writing, "Greta Thunberg getting arrested and accidentally taking just the sickest photo ever," gaining over 64,000 likes in a day. On the same day, Twitter^[4] user @xDaiablo posted a video using the Zoolander stare meme about Andrew Tate and Thunberg making eye contact in prison, garnering over 4,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Andrew Tate and Greta Thunberg seeing each other in jail: pic.twitter.com/yep4sT0UTL

— Twitch: sir_dipsy 👾 (@xDaiablo) January 17, 2023

The photo of Thunberg being carried by German police during the arrest also spread on platforms like Reddit as it became an image macro and "object-labeling": meme format. For example, on January 17th, Redditor TennisADHD posted a version using the image to the /r/dankmemes^[9] subreddit, receiving over 42,000 upvotes in 21 hours (seen below).

Various Examples

Developments

Fake Arrest Rumors

On January 17th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @TVisCOOLUK posted a video of Thunberg standing with the German police and smiling for cameras, laughing and acting casually. The tweet is captioned, "The fake arrest of #GretaThunberg. All set up for the cameras," garnering over 56,000 likes and 20,000 retweets in a day. The video appears to have been taken after Thunberg was removed from the protest area and is unconfirmed evidence that her detainment was faked.

The fake arrest of #GretaThunberg All set up for the cameras. pic.twitter.com/IViYGTXnG9

— TVisCOOL! 📺 www.tviscool.com (@TVisCOOLUK) January 17, 2023

However, the rumor spread over the following day as more people reported that it was fake based on the same video. For example, also on January 17th, Twitter^[6] user @DrEliDavid shared the video, writing, "The fake 'arrest' of Greta Thunberg in Germany today. It's all a theater 🎭" garnering over 46,000 likes in a day. That same day, the Facebook^[7] page for comedian Terrence K Williams shared a link to a Rumble video of his in which he claimed the arrest was staged, garnering over 2,500 reactions and 390 shares in a day (seen below).

Greta Thunberg's Statement On Detainment

On January 18th, 2023, Thunberg tweeted^[8] a statement about her arrest after it went viral, stating, "Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening. Climate protection is not a crime," garnering over 119,000 likes in under 24 hours (shown below).

Related Memes

German Mud Wizard

German Mud Wizard at Lützerath Anti-Coal Protest is a viral video of a man in a brown, wizard-like robe, nicknamed the "Mud Wizard," effortlessly walking around in a thick puddle of mud at an anti-coal protest in Lützerath, Germany as police officers in riot gear try to help free cops who are stuck in the mud. At one point after a police officer is pulled free, the mud wizard pushes another cop into the mud after he throws his cardboard sign. The clip went viral in January 2023, inspiring fan art and memes about the mud wizard.

Search Interest

External References