Feels to me that it is a cry for attention. It is like pouring red paint on the Mona Lisa. It seems a bit disproportionate, but it clearly provides some publicity for those activists with little investment. The same against another random Volkswagen factory in Germany would have not the same impact and worldwide coverage. It is an efficient way to make a local town issue, becoming a worldwide cause.
Storming a VW plant or one of Europe's largest refineries absolutely would have worldwide coverage, but also National Security level prosecution.
It looks like Tesla is facing the brunt because it's not a German company.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's also being astroturfed, as it is being spearheaded by a militant/direct action group [0]
Right and Left-Wing extremists are two sides of the same coin, and German utilities are viewing this as having potential ramifications on German stability [1][2]
German here. My interpretation of the situation is that Berlin tends to be pretty far left (compared with other parts of the country) and has an sizeable community of activists for various causes. Now, ever since Musk started his journey to the far right fringe, Tesla has increasingly lost sympathy / become a target of these left wing groups.
A militant/direct-action/anarchist far-left group like Vulkangruppe is drastically different from your more garden variety left leaning or environmental activists like the Green Party or factions of the SDP or Die Linke
I was responding the the parent's suspicion that Tesla is being targeted because they aren't a German company ("It looks like Tesla is facing the brunt because it's not a German company"). I don't think that's the case since these far left groups likely don't care too much about that, but rather the fact that the company is owned by the (now controversial) Musk.
