Extinction Rebellion activists were forcibly removed by enraged Italian motorists after blocking a major highway in Rome on Thursday.
Protesters sat in a row across Rome’s Raccordo – the city’s primary ring-road and one of its busiest – waving banners, demonstrating against environmental problems.
A video recorded from the side of the two-lane road showed protesters utilizing road-block protest methods similar to those employed in the United Kingdom, causing a massive traffic gridlock to snake back as far as the eye could see, with no police officials or cars in sight.
Irate Italian motorists at the front of the line retaliated by jumping out of their cars and dragging the protestors over the tarmac and off to the side of the road.
An orange flag was taken from the hands of Extinction Rebellion protestors and thrown over the side of the highway barrier by one man. A woman in a summer dress tore a second sign from their clutches while still clutching her handbag.
Following the removal of the banners, a second guy joined the first in dragging the protestors across the tarmac to the side of the road by their arms, creating enough of a gap for numerous vehicles to pass through and past the demonstration.
However, when the first guy dragged the remaining protesters off the road, the activists he had previously removed saw an opening and went back into the center of the road, in front of oncoming traffic, to sit down with their banner once again.
The guy grabbed one of the female protestors by the hair and carried her to the side of the road, blocking traffic once again. This did not stop her, and she soon moved back to the head of the line.
The adolescent demonstrators were members of an Extinction Rebellion offshoot organization called the ‘Last Generation’ movement, according to Italian magazine Corriere Dello Sport.
The organization is requesting that all fossil fuel extraction projects be halted, and that Italy not restart its coal plants, instead focusing on wind and solar energy development.
Similar protests have erupted in the United Kingdom in recent years, with Extinction Rebellion causing havoc on public transportation. Insulate Britain, another organisation, has utilized the same roadblock tactics as the campaigners in Italy.
Protesters have been charged in court, and injunctions have been issued to dissuade activists with the threat of prison time.
The video shows the first man, who was dressed in sunglasses, shorts, and a T-shirt, yelling at the female activist who had taken a seat in the center of the road.
He grabbed her up and hurled her to the side of the road this time. Meanwhile, the second man was able to create a space between the activists long enough for more automobiles and trucks to pass through and leave the area.
However, at the conclusion of the film, the protestors are seen continuing their efforts, blocking at least half of the road with their orange banner once again.
The demonstration was finally broken up with the presence of local police, the Carabinieri (federal police), and the Digos (special forces), according to Corriere Dello Sport, with the demonstrators being taken into jail.