Locals in German town buy supermarket's entire supply of beer to stop 'neo-Nazis' drinking at far-Right festival

Police also confiscated around 4,000 litres of beer
Polizei Sachsen
Jacob Jarvis24 June 2019

Residents of a German town came together to buy up a shop's entire beer stock to stop revellers drinking alcohol at a far-Right festival.

A court had imposed a ban on the sale and possession of alcohol at the Shield and Sword Festival in Ostritz, which began on Friday, according to reports.

Locals still suspected the attendees might attempt to purchase alcohol from supermarkets in the area, so attempted to "empty the shelves".

One activist, Georg Salditt, told Bild: "The plan was devised a week in advance. We wanted to dry the Nazis out. We thought, if an alcohol ban is coming, we'll empty the shelves at the Penny [supermarket]."

Another local explained to ZDF television why the revellers, who police described as neo-Nazis, were unwelcome.

She said: "For us it's important to send the message from Ostritz that there are people here who won't tolerate this, who say 'we have different values here, we're setting an example, which is not the image of a far-right concert, which dominates the media coverage'."

Police in Saxony also reported they had seized more than 4,000 litres of beer from those going to the event on Friday.

"The alcohol ban at the meeting/event site of the Neo-Nazi meeting in Ostritz has been consistently enforced by our forces since yesterday," officers tweeted on Saturday. "Alcoholic beverages are taken off before entering the premises."

There were also counter-protests held to the Shield and Sword Festival.

Michael Kretschmer, Saxony's state premier, told the DPA news agency: "I am very impressed with how in such a small town…the citizens stand up to make it clear that right-wing extremists are not wanted here."

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