Avaaraq Olsen tells content creators to think before making jokes after German tried to raise Stars and Stripes in Nuuk

The mayor of Greenland’s capital has called on media professionals and content creators to act responsibly after a German comedian’s failed attempt to hoist the US flag.

Maxi Schafroth, 41, a Bavarian comic, tried to run up the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole near the cultural centre in Nuuk but was confronted by angry passersby.

When questioned he claimed to be a US official, before leaving to disapproving looks from local people, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist at the scene. Local media said Schafroth was reported to the police and fined.

Avaaraq Olsen, the mayor of Sermersooq district, which includes the capital, was outraged. “Raising a flag at our capital cultural centre, the flag of a military superpower that for weeks has been implying military force against our country, is not a joke. It is not funny. It is immensely harmful,” she said in a statement.