Neo-Nazi festival runs dry after locals and police take all the beer

Locals and police teamed up in the town of Ostritz in Germany over the weekend to ensure a planned neo-Nazi festival was a teetotal affair, with residents buying up the town’s beer supplies.

A court in the city of Dresden enforced an alcohol ban on the “Shield and Sword” (SS) festival, stating that the event had an “aggressive character”.

The police force, of which 1,400 officers were deployed at the festival, seized 4,200 litres of beer on 21 June and a further 200 litres on 22 June.

Local activist, Georg Salditt, told Bild that together with colleagues, he’d managed to buy over 200 crates of beer.

“The plan was formulated a week before. We wanted to dry the Nazis out. We thought, if an alcohol ban is coming, we’ll empty the shelves at the Penny [supermarket],” he said.

Auch heute setzen wir das Alkoholverbot in #Ostritz weiter durch. Bei Vorkontrollen konnten wir bisher mehr als 200 Liter sicherstellen. pic.twitter.com/fIg1B4XKkx

— Polizei Sachsen (@PolizeiSachsen) June 22, 2019

The local police force also tweeted pictures of officers seizing boxes of beer.

According to media reports, between 500 and 600 people attended the festival, but crowds of around 2,000 people protested against the event.