BERLIN: German police are investigating former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters after he wore what appeared to be a Nazi SS uniform during a concert in Germany.
Waters, performing in Berlin on May 17, wore a long black overcoat with a red armband as he also aimed an imitation machine gun into the audience. The country bans displaying Nazi symbols however, the country’s laws allow exceptions for artistic or educational purposes. Waters maintained that his performance was clearly to show “opposition to fascism”.
Following the concert at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, German police spokesman Martin Halweg said: “We are investigating on suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothing worn on stage could be used to glorify or justify Nazi rule, thereby disturbing the public peace”. “The clothing resembles the clothing of an SS officer,” he added.
“The context of the clothing worn is deemed capable of approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime in a manner that violates the dignity of the victims and thereby disrupts public peace,” Halweg said.
Waters appeared on stage as the character Pink from the rock opera The Wall during a performance of the song In the Flesh, wearing a black leather trench coat with a red armband bearing two crossed hammers instead of a swastika.
