BERLIN/LONDON, May 27 (Portal) – Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters said he opposed fascism and bigotry as he wore a Nazi-style uniform on stage at a concert in Berlin, prompting German police to do so prompted investigations to be launched against the British musicians.
The 79-year-old said the questioned aspects of his performance at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena were “very clearly” a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry.
“Attempts to portray these elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated,” he tweeted.
Pictures from a May 17 concert showed the famous singer-bassist wearing a long black trench coat with bright red armbands, aiming a mock machine gun at the crowd.
The outfit featured a swastika-like emblem of two crossed hammers — iconography also featured on costumes in a film based on Pink Floyd’s hit 1979 album The Wall, a critique of fascism.
Waters said portraying a “mad fascist demagogue” has been a feature of his shows since The Wall.
Social media users defended Waters, saying the performance was a recreation of satirical scenes from the film, starring rock star and activist Bob Geldof, and that Waters had worn the same costume at previous concerts.
Nazi symbols, flags and uniforms are banned in Germany. The police said Waters was being investigated under a separate law on suspicion of “incitement to hatred”.
The costume worn by Waters “is assumed to be apt to violate the dignity of the victims and to condone, glorify or justify the violent and despotic rule of the Nazi regime in a way that disturbs the public peace”. said a police spokesman.
Other German cities, including Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne, tried to cancel Waters’ concerts after Jewish groups, including the Central Council of Jews, accused him of anti-Semitism.
Waters is a member of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which is targeting Israel for occupying territories where Palestinians aspire to a state of their own.
He denied the allegations and efforts to stop the concerts were unsuccessful. The final Germany tour date at Frankfurt’s Festhalle on Sunday is still listed on Waters’ website.
Reporting by Friederike Heine in Berlin and Sachin Ravikumar in London, editing by Andrew Heavens and Andrew Cawthorne
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