Protesters smashed the windows of a bank and set fire to a Tesla car in Geneva on Sunday during an anti-G7 march, expressing their anger towards the Group of Seven summit, which was set to take place just across the border in France.
Despite such incidents, the march was largely peaceful. According to the police, up to 7,000 people participated, and authorities confiscated knives and pyrotechnic devices, as reported by Reuters.
The demonstrators stated that their protest targets the G7, which they consider a symbol of the concentration of political and economic power. The context was also fueled by the fact that Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and a former advisor to US President Donald Trump, became the world's first trillionaire last week, reigniting discussions about inequality.
"For me, it's a meeting of the wealthy that once again shows how the rich can become even richer, while the poor are left behind," said protester Pippa Saugy.
The G7 summit, scheduled from June 15 to 17 in Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva, brings together the leaders of France, the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, along with the European Union.
The agenda of the meeting focuses particularly on the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and leaders will try to avoid conflict with Donald Trump as he seeks to finalize the peace agreement with Iran.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, numerous shops were barricaded, and hundreds of police officers were deployed in the streets amid fears of possible violence. Protests are common at G7 meetings, where demonstrators often criticize capitalism, globalization, climate change, and inequality.
Mattia Piccard criticized the massive police presence, stating that it aims to intimidate participants:
"This is an attempt to scare the protesters, to scare people, and to discourage them from joining the protest," he said.
Another protester, Clélia Colin, raised the issue of gender inequality.
"The values represented by the G7 are completely misogynistic and contribute to inequality because there is absolutely no equality," she said.