If you are a white supremacist, I imagine drinking beer is a nice way to relax and tune out the fact that you are a terrible person who is helping set human progress back at a rate of which the bubonic plague would be proud. However, for some self-professed white supremacists, it wasn't quite so easy on a June weekend in Germany.
According to Newsweek, the hundreds of neo-nazis that flocked to the "Shield and Sword Festival" in Ostritz found themselves uncomfortably dry when a court imposed a liquor ban at their gathering of hateful bigots that also like to listen to awful music together. The ban's aim was to prevent any violence that may erupt and the police confiscated over a thousand gallons of alcohol from those attending the weekend-long event. They even posted photos on Twitter of the alcohol they would removed from participants.
But that is only half the story.
Residents of the town of Ostritz, that have had to deal with the bigots before (they threw the same festival in 2018 on Hitler's birthday), knew that the ban would not stop the festival-goers from trying to obtain more alcohol while in town. Therefore, the townspeople got together a week before the festival and devised a plan that'd truly make the white supremacists focus on how horrible neo-nazi music is: They bought up the entire town's beer supply.
While the festival was going on, residents staged two counter-protests and put on a "Peace Festival" in order to drive home the point that bigotry was not welcome. In case the festival is held in the same town in 2020, ticket-buyers should be aware that Ostritz is not playing around when it says that white supremacists aren't welcome.
There is some good news, too: Apart from the fact that residents are not afraid to send the message that they are intolerant of intolerance, attendance to the far-right music festival has drastically decreased. In 2018, 1,200 people attended, as the BBC reported. In 2019, they were approximately 500-600. Here is hoping the festival won't have a return engagement next year.
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
Das Alkoholverbot auf dem Versammlungs-/Veranstaltungsgelände des Neonazi-Treffens in #Ostritz wird durch unsere Kräfte seit gestern konsequent durchgesetzt. Alkoholhaltige Getränke werden vor dem Betreten des Geländes abgenommen. pic.twitter.com/swTsqvIX9U
— Polizei Sachsen (@PolizeiSachsen) June 22, 2019
COMMENTS