The anti-SUV movement is taking an ugly turn as a leaderless group of guerilla climate activists called “Tyre Extinguishers” deflate the tires of thousands of SUVs in a global campaign, in a quest “to make it impossible to own an SUV in the world’s urban areas”.

According to the official website of the movement, they have deflated the tires of well over 10,000 SUVs since March 2022. Their largest action yet was organized on November 28 and 29, with members deflating the tires of 900 SUVs in 19 cities in eight different countries, including New York, Zurich and Amsterdam. The team described the mass tire deflations on November 28-29 as “the biggest coordinated global action against high-carbon vehicles in history, with many more to come”.

Read: Environmental Activists Deflate Tires On At Least 30 SUVs In Canadian City

The activists leave a leaflet on the “disarmed” vehicles to inform the owner about the reasoning behind this action and to supposedly ensure their safety. They ask governments to ban SUVs from urban areas and “tax them out of existence”, investing heavily in free public transport instead.

The official website of Tyre Extinguishers has a dedicated page on “how to spot an SUV” with a description of targeted vehicles as “much larger than ordinary cars, towering above them and taking up huge amounts of space”. It also includes photos of popular SUV models like the Land Rover Discovery, the Volvo XC90, the Jeep Compass, the previous generation of the Nissan Juke/Qashqai/X-Trail, and the Toyota RAV4. Then there is the “how to deflate an SUV tire” section with detailed instructions.

Interestingly, the Tyre Extinguishers are not only against the “polluting” ICE-powered SUVs but also target those with a fully electric powertrain since they find the bodystyle type, in general, to be unsafe for pedestrians and other road users.

Tyre Extinguishers spokesperson Marion Walker said: “We want to show that anyone, everywhere, can take climate action to end the dominance of massive cars in the world’s cities. All they need is a leaflet and a lentil! Our movement will continue to grow – once the idea is out there, it can’t be stopped.”

As reported by Business Insider, Walker justified their tire-deflating actions by saying: “Governments and politicians have failed to protect us from these massive unnecessary vehicles. SUVs are a climate disaster, they cause air pollution and are dangerous for other road users. Everyone hates them, apart from the people who drive them. Politely asking for climate action, clean air, and safer streets has failed. It’s time for action.”

In reality, it’s more complicated than that, with SUVs being the most popular type of vehicle all around the world. In any case, deflating the tires of another person’s private property isn’t the way of spreading a message about the climate.