A protestor threw a cake-like pastry at a board member's head during a Volkswagen meeting that descended into chaos
About a dozen activists staged a protest at Volkswagen's annual meeting on Wednesday causing the event to briefly descend into chaos.
Volkswagen
- About a dozen protestors reportedly created chaos at Volkswagen Groups annual meeting on Wednesday.
- One protestor threw what appeared to be a cake at a board member's head.
- Another protestor who was topless interrupted the CEO's speech, Associated Press reported.
About a dozen activists staged a protest at Volkswagen's annual meeting on Wednesday.
During the event in Berlin, Germany, one protestor threw what appeared to be a cake. The Associated Press reported that the pastry was thrown in the direction of Wolfgang Porsche, the chairman of Volkswagen Group's majority shareholder, Porsche SE.
The company omitted the disruption from the protestors in the recording of the event it posted on YouTube.
But recordings of the moment, uploaded to YouTube from news outlets including The Guardian, show VW Group chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch dodging remnants of the pastry that flew in his direction.
At one point in the meeting, a topless protestor who had written "Dirty Money" on their back interrupted a speech by VW Group boss Oliver Blume and was escorted out of the event by security, AP reported.
REUTERS/Victoria Waldersee
The publication reported that several protestors had signs saying "End Uyghur Forced Labour" and that the activists were accusing the company of ignoring human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region where VW has a facility.
A Reuters video from the event shows the protestors being led out of the meeting by security.
The carmaker has denied the allegations in the past and provided a statement on its work with the Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor earlier this year.
"SAIC also has a code of conduct and there is full agreement that we do not tolerate human rights violations," Volkswagen board member Ralf Brandstätter said in a statement from March, regarding VW's facility with SAIC Motor in the Xinjiang province of China.
Local police also intercepted climate change protestors who had positioned themselves outside of the event and had blocked off traffic, Bloomberg reported. The activists said on Twitter that they are calling for VW to decrease its carbon emissions.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication, but told Bloomberg VW is "open to critical dialog and regularly invites stakeholder groups and environmental protection organizations."