On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, at least 16 Amazon delivery vehicles were set on fire in an act claimed by an anonymous manifesto posted online. The letter, signed as “Some Anarchists”, was published on the far-left portal Indymedia.org and stated that incendiary devices were used to set fire to 25 Amazon Prime vehicles, with 16 of them being damaged, according to police reports.
The manifesto criticized Amazon as a “driving force in the establishment of digital capitalism” and highlighted concerns about employees’ working conditions, damage to the climate, and plans to build an Amazon megatower in Berlin. The vehicles started burning around 2:45 in the morning local time, and witnesses reported seeing hooded individuals in the area where the vans were parked shortly before the events unfolded.
Police confirmed that 16 vehicles were damaged, with most of them presumed to be rendered unusable. The incident is being investigated by the brigade responsible for political crimes and is speculated to be related to the May Day celebrations, which often see clashes between police and anti-capitalist demonstrators.
In a similar vein, a manifesto signed by a ‘Volcano Group’ had previously claimed responsibility for an attack against the Tesla gigafactory on the outskirts of Berlin, causing a temporary halt to production. Meanwhile, Amazon reported a significant profit increase in the first quarter of 2024, exceeding $10 billion, with substantial growth in Amazon Web Services and advertising services. Despite this positive result, analysts remain cautious about Amazon’s projections for the coming quarters due to increasing competition and spending cuts in cloud services. The report initially prompted a rise in share prices but later saw a decline after further investigation into these concerns.
