Policemen guard a car with the lettering 'Stop globalisation politics' painted on its doors after it drove into the gate of the German Chancellery and was removed by police, in central Berlin on November 25, 2020. German police said on November 25 they ha
Berlin - A 54-year-old man drove a car into the gate of the German chancellery in central Berlin on Wednesday, in what appeared to be a protest.
Police said they have detained the man, who is now being questioned by investigators.
The vehicle, which did not look damaged, touched the gates where concrete slates were raised as an additional security precaution preventing any vehicles from forcing their way into the site of Chancellor Angela Merkel's office.
"Stop globalisation politics" was painted on one side of the dark green Volkswagen while a message scrawled on the driver's side read, "you damned children- and old-people murderers".
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz would not comment on possible motives of the driver.
"Whether it was a symbolic act or whether it was to seek attention" is something for investigators to determine, he said.
German media reported the same vehicle had sought to drive into the security perimeter in 2014, in what then appeared to be a protest against global warming.
The car then bore the slogan "stop climate change which is killing people".
A 48-year-old man was taken into custody over that incident.
