British climate activists deflated more than 40 SUV tires in New York City and left leaflets reading ‘You Gas Guzzlers Kill’ – as the group warns more cities will be hit in the coming weeks
- Hailing from the UK, Tire Extinguishers say their mission is to “make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4×4 in the urban areas of the world”.
- The group is deflating SUV tires to make SUV ownership so inconvenient that drivers switch to other, more environmentally friendly vehicles
- They have targeted vehicles in the UK, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand
- This week, they conducted their first “action” in New York City, deflating the tires of several vehicles on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
- The group left leaflets on the SUVs they hit saying, “Warning: You gas guzzlers are killing,” and vowed to take action in other cities
Climate change activists with a group calling themselves Tire Extinguishers celebrate their first “action” in New York City — deflating the tires of 40 SUVs on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
The movement, which originated in the UK, is trying to discourage people from owning SUVs in urban areas and switch to greener vehicles instead.
The SUVs they destroyed had leaflets stuck to the windshield that read: “Caution: You gas guzzlers kill”.
They boasted about their actions on Twitter.
“BIG NEWS: TIRE EXTINGUISHERS STRIKE IN NEW YORK CITY FOR THE FIRST TIME!” they tweeted on Tuesday.
The group Tire Extinguishers posted a photo on social media of one of their followers deflating the tires of an SUV
The group’s followers print these leaflets and hang them on their windshields
They said: “40 SUVs were disarmed in the Upper East Side, the first of many.
“We have a flyer on our website in American English (“tyre” instead of “tyre”), so people from the USA, you can participate!”
Police are investigating, but no arrests have been made.
One victim sent them an email with the subject line: “Damn, Red Coats!”
The SUV owner said “much more polluting” pickups are now being called in to fix the damaged vehicles, noting that most of those attacked are covered by insurance.
The loosely organized movement encourages everyone to get involved as they wish. They encourage working under cover of darkness, working in pairs and practicing on bike tires first.
Activists are being urged to avoid cars for the disabled, dealership cars, minibuses and full-size cars – but electric SUVs are considered fair game.
“NYC is just the newest location and we expect other US cities to follow,” they said.
A spokesman for the group told Fox News Digital they intend to take more action.
“We are rapidly expanding into the United States and are in touch with people in major cities across the US,” a spokesman said.
“We expect this to be massively expanded.”
In a statement, the group said they want to see “bans on SUVs in urban areas, environmental levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, inclusive public transit.”
They added: “But until the politicians make this a reality, the tire extinguisher action will continue.”
Critics on social media said the action was misguided.
“People need to remember that even if their actions feel like morally correct decisions, there are still consequences,” one said.
Many others thought the group advocated slashing and destroying the tires and creating more waste.
“As much as I dislike using cars versus public transport/biking like you do; Destroying private property/causing more pollution from damaged tires and creating more waste is actually very counterproductive,” one said.
“Instead, try to make transit and cycling more attractive than driving.”
Another said: “To fight global warming etc you deflated the tires of 40 vehicles. And now 40 tow trucks will be on the road to re-inflate/replace those tires. I’m no genius for the carbon footprint, but it seems you’ve increased it exponentially based on the size and fuel consumption of the tow trucks.
One person joked, “May I suggest you target Cadillac Escalades in and around Harlem? This is supposed to be fun. Bring a camera.”
Another threatened: “Would it be legal to shoot these people in some areas if they were destroying your property? Just asking out of curiosity?’