BY JORDAN FREIMAN
Greta Thunberg apologized on Saturday for a comment that some interpreted as a threat of violence against politicians who ignore climate change. Thunberg said she was merely translating a Swedish expression into English and apologized for the way her comments may have come off.
“Yesterday I said we must hold our leaders accountable and unfortunately said ‘put them against the wall,'” the 16-year-old climate activist tweeted on Saturday. “That’s Swenglish: ‘att ställa någon mot väggen’ (to put someone against the wall) means to hold someone accountable.”
“That’s what happens when you improvise speeches in a second language,” the Swede continued. “But of course I apologize if anyone misunderstood this. I can not enough express the fact that I — as well as the entire school strike movement — are against any possible form of violence. It goes without saying but I say it anyway.”
