They're looking to "fight the commercial arm of fascism."Heil MaryThe "Sieg Heil" heard 'round the world has made its way to Deutschland, where activists are using the now-infamous image at Tesla's German Gigafactory to send abold message.German activist group Zentrum fur Politische Schnheit, or Center for Political Beauty, posted on X-formerly-Twitter a short video of its latest political performance: a projected image of Musk's flat-handed salute, accompanied by the word "Heil" in Tesla's futuristic font that was lined up perfectly with the Tesla factory's own logo.The group said in a subsequent post that it worked with the UK-based campaign group Led by Donkeys to "fight the commercial arm of fascism," a clear reference to the Musk-owned electric carmaker.Notably, performing a "Sieg Heil" gesture has long been illegal in Germany as part of its postwar denazification efforts. However, it remains unclear whether Musk's gesture specifically would be deemed illegal in Germany because, as legal experts explained toNewsweek, courts there would have to determine that it was Nazi in intent before making any such declaration.Law enforcement has already indicated that an investigation is underway into the activist groups. As Der Spiegel reports, state security services are looking into the groups for "using symbols of unconstitutional organizations.""It's about the distribution and projection of this image, taken out of context, which shows a gesture that looks very similar to the Hitler salute," a spokesperson for the Brandenburg public prosecutor's office toldSpiegel.In response to the news, the group claimed a resounding victory, arguing that investigators had proved their point."They do see a Hitler salute after all!" the group tweeted, as translated from German."Hopefully, he'll be put in jail for that," the group wrote in a followup.Non-DenialMusk himself hasn't denied outright that his bizarre gesture, which he did twice in succession during Donald Trump's inauguration festivities, was a Nazi salute. Instead, he accused those who pointed out the blatant Nazi-ness of the motion of engaging in "dirty tricks" and hyperbolically claimed that his detractors were comparing him to Adolf Hitler.Musk then proceeded to make a slew of gross puns using the names of various Nazi leaders an escalation of his increasingly edgelord behavior that earned him condemnation from Jewish groups including the Anti-Defamation League, which had defended his Nazi salute as an "awkward gesture" days prior.During an appearance at Davos, Switzerland following the salute, German chancellor Olaf Scholzappeared to leave the door open to potential blowback for the salute."We have the freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany," Scholz said at the billionaire convention. "Whatwe do not accept is if this is supporting extreme right positions. And this is what I would like to repeat again."While Germany's leader may be playing demure about the gesture that charmed online Neo-Nazis, its antifascist activists certainly aren't and they're saying so in an outlandish and, dare we say, fabulous fashion.More on Musk's inaugural appearance: Elon Musk Seen Acting Strangely Before Nazi SaluteShare This Article