Why Are There Zombies At G20? Meet The 'Welcome To Hell' Protesters

Streets in Hamburg looked like “The Dawn of the Dead” Wednesday when people dressed as gray zombies slowly lurched down streets. The performance was put on by a group called 1,000 Gestalten. The group collected 1,000 actors covered in clay and had them shuffle down streets before one actor broke out of the zombie clothes to reveal colorful clothes underneath, setting off a chain reaction according to CNN Thursday.

The stunt was part of a protest movement surrounding the G20 meetings set to take place starting Friday.

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“Our campaign is a further symbol for the fact that many people do not want to put up with the destructive impact of capitalism any longer," said a statement from a spokesperson to CNN. “What will save us in the end is not our account balance but someone who will offer their holding hand.”

The point of the piece was that change can come from a single person.

“We cannot wait until change happens from the world's most powerful, we have to show political and social responsibility, all of us, now,” the statement continued.

The G20 meetings started as a meeting of financial heads of 20 of the world’s leading economies in 1999 and morphed into a summit that included heads of state in 2008 in response to the financial crisis. The membership includes 19 countries and the European Union.

The theme of the protests and anti-capitalistic demonstrations was “Welcome To Hell,” according to the New York Times Thursday.

As heads of states arrive in Germany they will be greeted by mass protests across the city of Hamburg, many less hopeful than the 1,000 Gestalten performance. Police anticipate 100,000 protestors and believe that somewhere around 8,000 will be ready to commit violence, according to Reuters Thursday.

A march of around 7,000 denouncing capitalism and the G20 leaders happened on Wednesday without a hitch, but overnight a luxury Porsche dealership was torched damaging eight cars.

Over the two-day summit, Germany will have around 20,000 police officers on duty, according to the BBC Thursday.

“It's ridiculous that police say some of us are violent when starting tomorrow the leaders of the world's largest weapons-exporting and importing nations will be arriving in our city,” said Stefan Hubert to Reuters.

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Protests are common for the summit that brings together leaders of the nations that are responsible for 80 percent of the entire world’s gross domestic product. Some of the most rambunctious happened in 2010 in Toronto.

President Donald Trump, a very controversial figure abroad, will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. Both men have already been singled out in protests happening throughout the city.