What is the identity of BPE's head, Michael Stürzenberger?
Several people were hurt in a knife attack in Mannheim, targeting Michael Stürzenberger. He is the head of the Pax Europa (BPE) movement, a human rights organization labeled anti-Islam by the Constitutional Protection Agency.
Michael Stürzenberger, a 59-year-old man, experienced the attacks firsthand as the head of the Pax Europa (BPE) movement. They had set up a booth in the market square. The group's website shares its mission: clarifying the essence and objectives of political Islam. Despite no distinction between Islam and Islamism on their website, the BPE points out both are associated with "aggressive contempt and intolerance."
In the 2022 Bavarian Constitutional Protection Agency report, Stürzenberger and the BPE Bavaria branch were mentioned due to potential "constitutionally relevant anti-Islam efforts." These efforts denoted an attempt to "abolish religious freedom for Muslims."
Following a less active year in 2023, Stürzenberger and the BPE Bavaria branch no longer appeared in the Agency's 2023 report. The decrease in activities was the reason given by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Nevertheless, both were and still are under observation by the agency.
At one point, Stürzenberger worked as the CSU's press spokesman in Munich. Later, in 2011, he joined the extremist group Die Freiheit, which quicly drew attention from the Bavarian Constitutional Protection Agency. Stürzenberger held several positions in the party, including the Bavarian State chairmanship in 2012 and the federal chairmanship until its dissolution at the end of 2016. He also participated in various events of the controversial anti-Islam Pegida movement in Dresden.
Recently, Pax Europa announced on their website that one of their demonstrations in Mannheim had been assaulted. This assault resulted in injuries to Stürzenberger, some of his helpers, and even a police officer, inflicted by a man wielding a knife.
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The knife attack in Mannheim resulted in injuries for Michael Stürzenberger, the head of the Pax Europa (BPE) movement, highlighting the increasing instances of violence associated with international discourses on political Islam. Despite being under observation by the Bavarian Constitutional Protection Agency due to their anti-Islam efforts, Pax Europa continued to organize demonstrations, leading to the assault in Mannheim.
