1 of 1 Roger Waters is in Brazil for the Roger Waters Us + Them tour Photo: Giuliano Gomes/PR Press Roger Waters is in Brazil for the Roger Waters Us + Them tour Photo: Giuliano Gomes /PR Press
The Berlin police are investigating Pink Floyd cofounder Roger Waters for inciting hatred after he donned a Nazi uniform at a concert in the German capital.
“We are investigating on suspicion of hate speech because the clothing worn on stage could be used to glorify or justify the Nazi regime and disrupt public order,” Berlin police spokesman Martin Halweg told AFP. The investigations began on Friday (26th).
“The clothing resembles an SS officer’s uniform,” Halweg added.
Footage posted to social media shows Waters in a long black coat with red armbands during a May 17 concert at the MercedesBenz Arena.
- Roger Waters is booed and applauded in São Paulo after performing #elenão at a show for 45,000 people
- Roger Waters concerts in Poland canceled after criticism of Ukraine
The German and Israeli press also reported that Waters showed the names of several deceased people on a screen during the show, including Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp, and Shireen Abu Akleh, the journalist with Palestinian and American citizenship from the Al Jazeera broadcaster, who died in an Israeli operation in May 2022.
“We are investigating and, after the process has been completed, we will send the information to the State Ministry for the final legal assessment,” added the police spokesman.
The MP will decide whether or not to prosecute the British singer, 79.
Waters’ concert in Berlin met with much criticism in Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Waters “desecrated the memory of Anne Frank and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.”
“Waters wants to compare Israel to the Nazis. He is one of the greatest critics of Jews of our time,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon wrote on Twitter.
Waters is a wellknown proPalestinian activist who has been accused of antiJewish views. In his shows he uses an inflatable pig with the Star of David on it. She also advocates boycotting Israeli products.
Authorities in the German city of Frankfurt canceled a concert by the musician scheduled for May 28, but the decision was overturned by an administrative court on behalf of freedom of expression.