German police have launched a criminal investigation after former Pink Floyd bassist and anti-Israel provocateur Roger Waters wore a Nazi-style uniform during a recent concert in the German capital.
On May 17, at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, the British musician dressed up in a costume resembling an SS uniform and fired a prop machine gun at the audience. Waters also compared the accidental killing of Arab-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the murder of Anne Frank.
“The State Security Department at the Berlin State Criminal Police Office has initiated a criminal investigation procedure regarding the suspicion of incitement of the people,” Berlin police chief inspector Martin Halweg told Jewish News, which first reported the investigation.
“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. After the conclusion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office for legal assessment,” Halweg continued.
Waters responded to news of the investigation saying it was politically motivated by those “who want to discredit my name and silence me because they do not agree with my political views and moral principles.”
He added: “The elements of my performance in question are clearly a statement that opposes fascism, injustice, and racism in all forms. Attempts to present the elements as something else are disingenuous and motivated by a political agenda.”
Frankfurt’s Jewish community plans to protest Waters’ upcoming concert there on May 28, Bild reported. Waters has won a legal battle to perform in the city after attempts to cancel the show amid accusations of antisemitism.
“It is important for us to cry out and not stand by when a well-known antisemite and hater of Israel is given a stage in Frankfurt,” the community’s board of governors said in a statement.
