A municipal council candidate for the AfD party in Mannheim was attacked with a knife.
Recently, in local elections, an AfD candidate faced an attack while he was in the process of removing campaign posters. As per district branch information, he was stabbed by one attacker and required hospitalization. This incident occurred on Tuesday evening at around 10:45 p.m. in Mannheim. The police conducted an operation following this incident on Wednesday morning. The police arrested one individual in connection with this case. Unfortunately, the two other attackers escaped the scene.
The AfD candidate targeted is named Heinrich Koch, participating in the Mannheim city council election. He is placed third on the list.
The suspect, aged 25, is believed to have mental health issues according to police and prosecutors. They haven't yet determined if he was aware of the political affiliation of the victim.
During this incident, the suspect had allegedly damaged and stolen a few campaign posters. People informed the police about these activities. The incident came to an end when Heinrich Koch chased after the suspect, who then inflicted a knife wound on the pursuer. His injuries are not life-threatening, and he was hospitalized.
The suspect was caught by the police shortly afterwards at a nearby location. Intellectually, he did not resist.
The AfD district association mentioned that this altercation unfolded near Mannheim's market square in the district of Rheinau. The AfD candidate at the city council had apparently captured poster thieves in the act and confronted one of them, leading to a knife attack. According to AfD, three people were involved, but two managed to flee. A citizen's call to the police led to the apprehension of the perpetrator.
A video from the AfD contains the incident which shows the suspect, holding a knife and resisting the camera's approaching individual. The results of the altercation show the suspect protecting himself from the camera's person while the rest of the video is blurred.
The AfD politician is recuperating in the hospital, where he received non-life-threatening injuries, as reported by the AfD state association. He endured a blow to his ear and abdomen. The injured candidate is expected to depart from the hospital in the afternoon. The party believes the attack was carried out by left-wing extremists but still remains unconfirmed.
The Mayor of Mannheim, Christian Specht, has strongly criticized the attack on an AfD candidate for the municipal elections. "This contemptible act is unacceptable and unjustifiable in any way," said the CDU representative. "Anyone who attacks election candidates threatens our free, equal, direct, and secret elections - the foundation of our democracy."
There has been a sequence of attacks on helpers, politicians, and intolerance in the recent weeks across Germany. Similarly, in Dresden, SPD campaigner Matthias Ecke was brutally assaulted and hospitalized. Recently, in Mannheim, a 25-year-old from Afghanistan drew a knife at an event of the Islamic-critical movement Pax Europa (BPE) in the city center market square. He injured six people, including a police officer, who later died from his injuries. The police shot the attacker to stop him. The Prosecutor's Office has begun its investigation, and the perpetrator remains unfit for questioning due to a health problem.
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The attack on Heinrich Koch, an AfD candidate in Mannheim's city council election, occurred near the market square in the district of Rheinau. Following the incident, the police conducted an operation and arrested the suspect, believed to have mental health issues, in connection with the knife attack.
