A 48-year-old man has been arrested in western Germany in connection with a series of sabotage attempts targeting electricity substations serving coal-fired power plants, German media reported on Tuesday.
Der Spiegel reported that Daniel V. was detained during a traffic stop near Weisweiler, close to Aachen, after investigators had been searching for him for several days.
Police on Monday evening found several homemade launch devices near the Weisweiler power plant, according to the report. The devices were reportedly designed to fire thin wires over high-voltage lines, potentially causing short circuits.
Similar devices were discovered last week in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. The first confirmed attacks occurred on September 1 at substations supplying the Janschwalde lignite plant in eastern Germany and facilities near Bergheim, west of Cologne.
Investigators began focusing on Daniel V. after letters claiming responsibility were sent to German media. The letters were signed with his full name.
Suspect cites climate and political grievances
In the letters, the writer claimed to have acted alone and said left-wing groups and activists had no involvement.
He described fossil-fuel electricity generation as a crime and accused the media and government of failing to respond urgently to the climate crisis.
“I am not attacking the country but the fossil fuel industry,” he wrote, while noting that some politicians viewed the two as synonymous.
The writer also said he was pleased that the sabotage had not caused power outages, while coal-fired plant units were taken offline.
In another passage, he said he would not be saddened by outages affecting Germany’s arms industry, particularly while Germany supports what he described as “the genocide in Palestine.”
Police have not publicly confirmed whether the arrested man is the author of the letters or disclosed a possible motive beyond the allegations reported by local media.
