Meet Andreas Malm, the climate activist whose four-year-old has an ‘awareness of the tactic of deflating S.U.V. tires.’
Climate activist Andreas Malm advocated for political violence and climate sabotage to advance the progressive environmental agenda in a startling new interview with the New York Times.
Malm, radical environmentalist and author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, sat down with an interviewer from the New York Times to discuss his work and upcoming book, which will further elaborate on his vision for violence in the name of climate security.
“I want sabotage to happen on a much larger scale than it does now. I can’t guarantee that it won’t come with accidents,” the Swedish and Karl Marx-influenced activist told the Times. The Times interviewer pressed Malm’s approval of activism-fueled violence, stating “It’s hard to think that deaths don’t become inevitable if there is more sabotage,” to which he responded, “Sure, if you have a thousand pipeline explosions per year … But we are some distance from that, unfortunately.”
In a rare and fleeting moment of sanity, Malm stated that climate activists who take part in road blockades alienate their “target audience,” — and indeed they do, by blocking commuters, ambulances, emergency services, school children, and more. Rather than participate in these protests, Malm argues, he wants activists to instead send a clear message to oil giants: “Yes, your assets are at risk of destruction.”
“I’ve participated in things that I can’t tell you about because they’ve been illegal and they’ve been militant,” he told the interviewer, adding, “I’ve done it recently.”
Malm also opened up about parenting his 4 and 9-year-old children, who have seen the film adaptation of his book, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which is rated R for violence, gore, profanity, drug use, and implications of sexual conduct.
“There were a couple of scenes that stayed with them, particularly when people were wounded,” Malm told the Times. The interviewer once again allowed Malm to disavow his comments on some forms of violence being acceptable, by asking, “Generally we teach kids that violence or breaking people’s things is bad. Do you feel you can honestly give your kids the same message?”
“I hope that I communicate through my parenting that generally, you shouldn’t break things. But I hope that they get the impression that I consider there to be exceptions to this rule,” Malm answered. He also told the interviewer that his 4-year-old would frequently be “on the lookout” for S.U.V.s (sport utility vehicles). “He knows these are the bad cars. I think they have an awareness of the tactic of deflating S.U.V. tires,” he added.
Climate activism has been linked to more than 100 arsons and bombings from 1995 to 2010, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics. More recent data, though scarce, has found several instances of “eco-terrorism” since 2016, costing millions in damages.
