Waters said depictions of a “deranged fascist demagogue” have appeared at Pink Floyd concerts since 1980.
Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has said he opposes “fascism” in all its forms after furore in Germany, where the rock star’s wearing of a Nazi-style uniform rock concert in Berlin sparked a police investigation.
Berlin police said Friday they were investigating Waters after images of the Pink Floyd co-founder circulated on social media, showing him on stage last week in a Mercedes-Benz wearing a long black coat with red armbands and shooting an imitation of the World War. II submachine gun
Police are investigating “suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothes worn on stage could serve to glorify or justify Nazi rule,” a police spokesman told French news agency AFP .
When the police investigation concludes, the case will be handed over to prosecutors in Berlin, police said.
Felix Klein, the German government’s commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, called for Waters to be held accountable. Klein said authorities need to be “vigilant” following the incident and that music venues should rethink their relationship with the musician, according to a report by German media group Funke.
“Concert organizers should consider whether they want to provide a platform to conspiracy theorists,” Klein said.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account on Saturday, Waters said his concert in Berlin had “attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views”.
Waters said attempts to portray his performance as anything but anti-fascist were “disingenuous and politically motivated”.
“The elements of my performance that have been questioned are clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms,” he said.
— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) May 26, 2023
“The portrayal of a deranged fascist demagogue has been a feature of my shows since Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ in 1980,” he said.
“I have spent my entire life speaking out against authoritarianism and oppression wherever I found it… My parents fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price,” he to say.
“Regardless of the consequences of the attacks against me, I will continue to condemn injustice and all those who perpetrate it.”
Water is a well-known pro-Palestinian activist who has been accused of holding anti-Jewish views. He has floated an inflatable pig with a Star of David at his concerts. The singer denies accusations of anti-Semitism, saying he was protesting Israeli policies, not Jews.
Waters has played several German cities in recent weeks as part of his “This Is Not A Drill” tour. But he has been very controversial with some city officials even trying, unsuccessfully, to ban him from performing.
At the same concert in Berlin, Waters also displayed on a large screen the names of several deceased people, including that of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last year, was also named.
Abu Akleh’s family has filed an official complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking justice for his death.
Waters is due to play his final German concert in the western city of Frankfurt on Sunday evening and protesters plan to demonstrate outside the venue.
Frankfurt city authorities tried to stop the concert, but a court ruled against them, citing artistic freedom.
