The Great Deflate: Climate activists strike again, deflate tires in Victoria, Oak Bay as protest

Victoria, British Columbia- It seems as though SUV owners in the Victoria region of British Columbia must take extra caution as a group of environmental activists continues their targeted deflation of SUV tires.

Over 30 vehicles were found deflated across the Victoria and Oak Bay regions of BC this weekend. This comes after Collision Repair magazine previously covered a gamut of tire deflations within the Kitchener-Waterloo region.

The culprit of both targeted attacks on SUVs is claimed to be the Tyre Extinguishers, a worldwide protest group hoping to eliminate SUVs from urban areas.

Their website reads, “We do this with one simple tactic: deflating the tires of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience for their owners without endangering any lives in the process.”

Oak Bay police have thus far received eight complaints about the deflations.

While the group has been noticed within the communities hit by this ‘direct action’, the group has no plans of stopping.

Last night we disarmed 34 SUVs in Victoria and Oak Bay and this is just the beginning,” the Tire Extinguishers said on Twitter.

For the Tyre Extinguishers, deflating tires represents the most efficient form of protest.

“We are taking action because, like so many British Columbians, we have felt angry, powerless, afraid, and overwhelmed at the global scale of the climate crisis and the glacial pace of action, and we have asked ourselves: what direct action can we do that makes a difference?” says the organization.

The group has currently claimed responsibility for similar targeted attacks across the UK, NYC, Sweden, New Zealand, and France.

Last month’s actions within the Waterloo region represent the first within Canada. However, the group promises that they are only getting started.

“We expect to form groups in many other Canadian cities soon,” the group told CHEK News.

SUV owners should be aware of the actions taken by the group, and take extra caution in storing their vehicles.

What do you think group’s actions? Is any of this warranted? Or do the protest attacks represent over step by the activist group?