Originally published June 5, 2023 12:00 pm PDT
A left-leaning radical organization known as the Tyre Extinguishers has been engaging in clandestine operations targeting SUVs, intending to counteract climate change.
Operating under the cover of darkness, activists introduce lentils or other types of pulses into the valve caps, thus causing the deflation of the SUV’s tires.
This group’s activities have reportedly spread across 18 countries, inclusive of the United States.
According to a statement on the group’s website on the first day of June, “Reports [are] coming in of very angry #CarShaggers who are upset they can’t drive their massive tanks around Lisbon. Oh no!”
Apparently, this denotes their operations expanding to Lisbon, Portugal. The Tyre Extinguishers claim to have established “active groups” in the United States, the UK, Canada, Austria, New Zealand, and Germany, among other countries.
As indicated by their Twitter account, activists “disarmed” over 40 vehicles in Potsdam, Germany on the night of May 31.
The organization’s ultimate goal is to render SUV ownership impossible in urban locales.
As stated on their website, “To do that, we need people everywhere deflating 4×4 tyres, week-in, week-out.”
Since the group’s first recorded tire deflation operation in the UK back in March 2022, they’ve condemned SUVs as unnecessary luxury emissions flaunted by the affluent and a climate disaster.
The Tyre Extinguishers’ website provides tutorials on tire deflation and offers printable pamphlets and stickers for activists to place on the windshields of targeted vehicles.
One such leaflet reads: “ATTENTION – Your gas guzzler kills. We have deflated one or more of your tires. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car.”
This group advocates for global activists to concentrate their efforts on SUVs in affluent and middle-class neighborhoods.
In Boston, during their inaugural action in April, they claimed to have deflated the tires of 43 luxury SUVs in the Beacon Hill area.
They assert that only large, luxury gas-powered SUVs were targeted, with electric or hybrid vehicles or any vehicles with handicap signage being excluded.
However, these actions have been met with frustration from local residents.
Lauren, a local Boston resident whose parents’ vehicle was targeted, spoke to Boston 25 News, saying, “I’m all for taking action to save the environment but I just don’t know that destroying people’s personal property or damaging people’s personal property is the way to go about doing it.”
Lauren also mentioned how this act of vandalism had significant consequences for people like a local firefighter who couldn’t get to the fire station and healthcare workers who couldn’t get to their workplace on time.
Moreover, another resident reportedly had to miss a medical appointment due to tire deflation.
No arrests have been made as of April 20, despite the Boston Police Department conducting interviews with 10 victims, as per local media reports.
The Tyre Extinguishers’ acts of vandalism have not been limited to Boston, having claimed to deflate tires in San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, New York, and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
As a self-proclaimed leaderless organization, the Tyre Extinguishers claimed to have deflated the tires of more than 10,000 SUVs since its initial operations in March 2022.
In November of the previous year, they took responsibility for deflating the tires of 900 SUVs in a single night, with targeted vehicles located in New York and seven European nations.
