Two police officers from Germany's southern state of Bavaria were suspended and put under investigation on Sunday after allegedly performing a Nazi salute at a pub in the city of Rosenheim.
A witness reported to the police that the two officers and a third man, a member of a voluntary citizens' security force, made the gesture after making racist comments outside of the establishment. Police declined to give details but said the comments were made while under the influence of alcohol.
It is illegal to make the Nazi salute in public or display Nazi symbols in Germany.
"If once again people are parading today in the streets making Nazi salutes, our past history forces us to resolutely defend democracy," The Independent cited Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. "If the Hitler salute is made on our streets today once again, it is a disgrace to our country."
The suspensions come after thousands of far-right and anti-fascist protesters gathered in the city of Chemnitz last month following the arrest of two men, a Syrian and an Iraqi, accused of stabbing a man to death.
Around 2,000 police officers were sent to the East German city and 18 people were reportedly injured when almost 8,000 people attending the far-right protest began to fight 3,000 counterprotesters on Saturday. Some protesters reportedly singled out and attacked people due to their ethnicity.
"What was seen yesterday in parts of Chemnitz and what was recorded on video has no place in our country," Steffen Seibert, a spokesperson from Angela Merkel's office, said on the day following the protests, according to NPR. "People ganging up, chasing people who look different from them or who come from elsewhere…is something we won't tolerate. This has no place in our cities, and I can say for the German government that we condemn this in the sharpest possible manner."
An anti-racism concert was organized on Monday in Chemnitz where punk and hip-hop bands performed.
"We're not naïve. We're not under the illusion that you hold a concert and then the world is saved. But sometimes it's important to show that you're not alone," a singer from the group Kraftklub told the crowd of 65,000 people who gathered following a minute of silence that was held for the stabbed man. Organizers were forced to change the venue due to a growing attendance.
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