Eight officers were injured as a far-right rock concert in east-central Germany boiled over into scuffles with police. The event was disassembled an hour after the beginning.

Some 700 people descended on the market square of the German town of Apolda on Saturday, where an improvised concert under the motto “rock against the overflow of foreigners” started. The event apparently drew some neo-Nazis as the photos from the event show the participants giving Nazi salutes.

1558 Presse steht jetzt sehr weit am Rand, keine gute Position zum Arbeiten @Polizei_Thuer. Unzählige Hitlergrüße sind dokumentiert, das hier ist nur eine kleine Auswahl.#Apolda#Apolda0610pic.twitter.com/ZWxmpiFNtT — Henrik Merker (@J_MkHk) October 6, 2018

Some concert goers are said to have tried to force their way force through the police officers, who responded with pepper spray.

Eine Gruppe Rechter beleidigt die Beamten der @Polizei_Thuer in #Apolda. Als einer der Teilnehmer den Aufforderungen eines Beamten nicht nachkommt, sprüht der Beamte Pfefferspray direkt ins Gesicht. #Apolda0610pic.twitter.com/OFNtFgwGVX — Maximilian Rieger (@mjrieger) October 6, 2018

The event escalated as some crowd started pelting the law enforcement with bottles and stones. Some bottles were thrown from the roofs, according to authorities. Eight officers were injured, but none of them seriously.

The Interior Minister of the federal state of Thuringia said that Saturday’s “Nazi” violence was an “open attack” on democracy, adding that he was proud of the officers’ actions.

The same day Apolda saw a hundreds-strong counter-rally. The rock concert was initially supposed to be held at another small town called Magdala, but authorities did not give their permission, forcing its last-minute move to Apolda, according to local media.

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