gabriel defend middle finger gesture
Germany's Sigmar Gabriel defends middle finger gesture
Germany's economy minister and vice-chancellor has defended flicking the middle finger to a group of right-wing protesters earlier this month. Sigmar Gabriel, who is Angela Merkel's second-in-command, said his only mistake was not using both hands. He said his critics should think about what they would do if faced with 12 "young, aggressive, swearing and ready-for-violence Nazis". Mr Gabriel was confronted by the hecklers in northern Germany. They called him a traitor of the people and mentioned his father's Nazi past.