BERLIN (AP) — A Jesuit priest says he prefers going to prison than paying a 500-euro ($541) fine for participating in a climate activists' street blockade in the southern German city of Nuremberg.
The Rev. Jörg Alt started serving his nearly monthlong prison sentence on Tuesday in Nuremberg.
“Today, I am starting my 25-day alternative custodial sentence in Nuremberg prison,” he said before entering the prison. “I don’t like doing this, especially as my health is no longer the best at the age of 63. But I see no alternative, because it’s the last form of protest I have left in this specific case to draw attention to important issues” such as climate change.
In November, Alt said that "as a priest, I have no income and no bank account due to my vow of poverty and that I do not want to harm the order and my fellow brothers by paying my fine,” German news agency dpa reported.
His remarks came after a Bavarian Higher Regional Court rejected his appeal to a lower court's decision and confirmed Alt's conviction for coercion for participating in a sit-in blockade.
After the court's decision, authorities repeatedly asked Alt to pay the 500 euros, before the fine was eventually commuted to the 25-day prison sentence.
The court ruling in November was in connection with a street blockade in August 2022, when the Jesuit priest and about 40 other activists blocked traffic in Nuremberg by gluing their hands to a street in front of the city's train station to draw attention to climate change.
Numerous similar protests have taken place across Germany and other countries in recent years, as activists try to draw attention to the urgency of tackling climate change. The public and political response to such road blockades has been mixed.
While some Germans have said they support the protesters’ cause, if not their means, activists have also faced violence from enraged motorists and calls for tough punishment from conservative politicians.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply criticized climate activists as “ nutty” for drastic protests such as blocking streets or gluing themselves to famous paintings in museums.
Last year, activists belonging to one of the main protest groups, the Last Generation, announced that they would abandon the tactic and move on to holding what they call “disobedient assemblies.”
Alt has said that he had also decided to serve the prison sentence instead of paying the fine "in solidarity with those climate activists who are treated similarly by the administration and the judiciary — it may all be lawful, but it is unjust.”
It's not the first time, that Alt was convicted for his activism. In May 2023, a court also convicted him of coercion after he participated in a road blockade in Munich and ordered him to pay a small fine.
FILE - Priest Joerg Alt addresses supporters prior to the beginning of his trial at a court in Munich, Germany, May 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Jesuit priest Jorg Alt walks past the courthouse before starting his 25-day prison sentence at Nuremberg prison, Nuremberg, Germany, Tuesday April 1, 2025, before starting his 25-day prison sentence for climate action. (Daniel Löb/dpa via AP)
Jesuit priest Jorg Alt speaks to protest group the Last Generation in front of Nuremberg prison, Nuremberg, Germany, Tuesday April 1, 2025, before starting his 25-day prison sentence for climate action. (Daniel Löb/dpa via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump remained defiant on Monday as global markets continued plunging and fears of a recession grew after his tariff announcement last week.
“Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Trump accused other countries of “taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!” on international trade and said “our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this.”
The Republican president has insisted his tariffs are necessary to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing. He has singled out China as “the biggest abuser of them all” and criticized Beijing for increasing its own tariffs in retaliation.
He also called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the tariffs could increase inflation, and he said “there’s a lot of waiting and seeing going on, including by us,” before any decisions would be made.
Trump spent the weekend in Florida, arriving on Thursday night to attend a Saudi-funded tournament at his Miami golf course. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and golfed at two of his properties nearby.
On Sunday, he posted a video of himself hitting a drive, and he told reporters aboard Air Force One that evening that he won a club championship.
“It’s good to win,” Trump said. "You heard I won, right?”
He also said that he wouldn’t back down from his tariffs despite the turmoil in the global markets.
“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump said.
Goldman Sachs issued a new forecast saying a recession has become more likely even if Trump backtracks from his tariffs. The financial firm said economic growth would slow dramatically “following a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed.
On Monday, the president is scheduled to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House to celebrate their World Series victory. He's also meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and they're expected to hold a joint press conference in the afternoon.
Trump has strived for a united front after the chaotic infighting of his first term. However, the economic turbulence has exposed some fractures within his disparate coalition of supporters.
Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager, lashed out at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday as “indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing.” He said Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm led by Lutnick before he joined the Trump administration, stood to profit because of bond investments.
On Monday, Ackman apologized for his criticism but reiterated his concerns about Trump’s tariffs.
“I am just frustrated watching what I believe to be a major policy error occur after our country and the president have been making huge economic progress that is now at risk due to the tariffs," he wrote on X.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News Channel that Ackman should “ease off the rhetoric a little bit.”
He insisted that other countries, not the United States, are “going to bear the brunt of the tariffs.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, expressed skepticism about tariffs over the weekend. Musk has said that tariffs would drive up costs for Tesla, his electric automaker.
“I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said in a video conference with Italian politicians.
He added, “That certainly has been my advice to the president.”
Peter Navarro, a Trump trade adviser and tariff proponent, later told Fox News that Musk “doesn’t understand” the situation.
“He sells cars,” Navarro said. “That’s what he does.” He added that, “He’s simply protecting his own interests as any business person would do.”
Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.
President Donald Trump arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
