German city fights neo-Nazi graffiti with street art

BERLIN (AP):

Artists in the western German city of Dortmund have sprayed over neo-Nazi graffiti in a street that far-right extremists have long claimed as their territory.

Under the watchful eye of Dortmund police, the artists covered neo-Nazi slogans with colourful images in the city’s Dorstfeld district.

The move was commissioned by a civil society group called Association for Diversity, Tolerance, and Democracy and sanctioned by city authorities and the police.

City authorities said the far-right graffiti used by neo-Nazis to “intimidate and scare away people who think differently”, has been “a thorn in the eye” for years.

The top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, said neo-Nazis “mustn’t be given a millimetres room”.

Dorstfeld has in the past seen numerous violent attacks by far-right extremists.