A candidate of the far-right German party AfD in the municipal elections was attacked with a knife last night in Mannheim, in southwestern Germany, in Baden-Württemberg. The German media reported it, adding that the man was injured and the person responsible for the attack was arrested. Bild reports that AfD spokesperson Emil Sänze identified the attacked politician as Heinrich K., 62, adding that he was attacked in total by 3 people, 2 of whom are still on the run. According to the reconstruction, the attack occurred around 10.45pm on Tuesday in the market square. The party blamed the attack on left-wing extremists.
According to the German agency Dpa, the AfD politician is still in hospital, injured, but his life is not in danger. The stabbing occurred near the same market square where another attack occurred last Friday, when a 25-year-old Afghan man stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opposed to political Islam. The group, Pax Europa, describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “growing spread and influence of political Islam.” Michael Stürzenberger, an activist and leading figure of the group, is among the 5 injured and the attacker is still in hospital, while a policeman died from his injuries.
Alternative fuer Deutschland claims that left-wing extremists were behind the attack on their municipal candidate from Mannheim. The news has not yet been confirmed. “We are scared and shocked,” commented Rhineland Palatinate party leader Markus Forhnmaier. The police have just announced that last night the municipal candidate of the town of 300 thousand inhabitants was injured with a knife by a person who was tearing up the party’s election posters.
#Germany #ultraright #candidate #injured #knife #Mannheim
