A German election candidate was stabbed in the head and stomach on Tuesday night after being confronted by a group of men who were tearing down his election posters, the second time in four days that a right-wing activist has been stabbed in a single German city.
Heinrich Koch, a 62-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD) city council candidate, was stabbed to death in Mannheim on Tuesday. Die Welt Reports The right-wing activist was slashed in the ear and abdomen by the attacker and taken to hospital.
The injury is not life-threatening but will require stitches.
The 25-year-old was allegedly part of a group of three people who had been stealing election posters in the city and had been pursued by activists. Two managed to escape, but one of the group allegedly slashed them with a box cutter. The attacker then fled but was later arrested.
#Afda-Participated #Mannheim Messer dropped out: This is one fatal error that invalidates one form. I am highly educated and passionate about educating young people and I was shocked. pic.twitter.com/q6OqLtCsoE
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) June 5, 2024
The stabbing suspect has reportedly been sent to a psychiatric hospital for “mental abnormalities.” Welts It said there was “no concrete evidence” that the attacker, who was stealing political posters, knew that the man he stabbed was a politician.
AfD co-chair Alice Weidel called the attack a “horrific act” and wished her colleague a speedy recovery from her injuries and the shock of the attack. AfD lawmaker Tino Krupalla said that while AfD members are the most frequent victims of political violence in Germany, such attacks would not stop the party from campaigning.
The attack came just four days after another stabbing in Mannheim, where Afghan immigrants stormed a political demonstration in the city square, seriously wounding veteran anti-mosque and anti-Islam activist Michael Sturtzenberger and stabbing to death another man after an unfortunate police officer mistakenly arrested him.
Police initially remained mum on the motive for the attack, but days later acknowledged that a mass stabbing at an anti-Islamic extremist rally was probably the work of Islamic extremists. The suspect, who was supposed to have been deported years ago, remains in hospital after being shot by police.
The reported stabbing of an anti-Muslim right-wing activist in Mannheim last week and the resulting controversy came just days before this week’s European Parliament elections and German local elections on Sunday. Footage of the attack, which was accidentally livestreamed, spread across social media around the world, intensifying the debate over deportation policy in the final days of the election campaign.
Immigration at centre of German debate ahead of EU elections as knife man unsuccessfully seeks asylumhttps://t.co/oJ0cTOpujm
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 4, 2024
