A candidate for the municipal elections of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was injured on Tuesday night when he was attacked with a knife in the city of Mannheim, in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the south of the country. The perpetrator of the attack was arrested, according to media reports this Wednesday.
The spokesperson spoke of a left-wing extremist attack, but the initial results of the investigation indicate that There is no concrete evidence that the suspect knew during his attack that the victim was a member of the AfD.
According to the police, the attack was the work of a mentally disturbed man. The alleged perpetrator, aged 25, fled and was later arrested by police without resistance. He was later sent to a psychiatric hospital.
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This is alarming and shows how far the deep division in our society has come.
The victim, who was third on the AfD list for the municipal elections in Mannheim, He is not in danger, police said.
It is not the first attack against politicians or volunteers during this electoral campaign.
The MEP and main social democratic candidate from Saxony in the European elections, Matthias Ecke, was seriously injured in early April in Dresden (east) when he was attacked while posting election posters.
Previously, the alleged perpetrators of the attack had attacked a Greens volunteer, who was also putting up posters.
This is not the only attack against politicians in recent days.
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Martin Schmidt, AfD deputy in the regional parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, was also injured when he was attacked with a glass ashtray in the German city of Schwerin.
On the other hand, in Mannheim, where the attack against the AfD politician took place, An Afghan citizen attacked an anti-Islam militant and four other people with a knife on Friday.
The alleged perpetrator, a 25-year-old man who arrived in Germany in 2014, attacked several members of an anti-Islamic movement in the market square of this city in the west of the country.
One of the police officers who responded to the scene was stabbed and died a few days later in hospital.
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Terrorist attack.
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Among the injured was one of the leaders of the Pax Europa Movement (BPE), Michael Stürzenberger, known for his anti-Islamic activism in Germany and close to the extreme right.
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“Whether it is Islamism or left-wing extremism, whoever does not accept freedom of opinion or have reasonable arguments now draws the knife. This is alarming and shows how far the deep division in our society has come. I wish Heinrich Koch a speedy recovery, said the head of the AfD parliamentary group in the regional chamber, Anton Baron.
The rest of the political parties consider the extreme right and AfD co-responsible for the current climate of violence against politicians and social division.
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