‘Officer who was attacked in Mannheim in mortal danger’

The police officer who was stabbed in the neck this morning in an attack on a radical right-wing movement in the German city of Mannheim is in life-threatening condition. Several German media write that a 25-year-old man from Afghanistan is behind the attack. According to weekly magazine Der Spiegel, it is suspected that there is an Islamist motive.

The attack took place during a meeting of the anti-Islam movement Civic Movement Pax Europa. The target of the attack was Michael Stürzenberger, a well-known anti-Islam activist in Germany. Stürzenberger was taken to hospital with serious injuries to his face and leg, the organization wrote on its own website this afternoon.

‘Seven wounded’

Video footage shows the perpetrator charging at demonstrators with a knife and stabbing them. A fight ensues. It can be seen that one of the men has a large flesh wound in his leg. Bystanders tried to chase the attacker away.

View some of the images below:

The police quickly arrived on the scene and tried to intervene. The images show how the attacker then stabbed the police officer. Another officer draws his firearm and shoots the attacker.

A total of seven people were injured in the attack, German media write based on police sources. The attacker was also injured. According to the regional broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR), he is currently in hospital and unresponsive.

Scholz response

“The images from Mannheim are terrible,” Chancellor Scholz responds to X. “My thoughts are with the victims. Violence is unacceptable within our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.” German Interior Minister Faeser hints at an Islamist motive in an X-message.

The police have not yet officially announced anything about the identity and motive of the perpetrator. Various German media now write that it concerns 25-year-old Sulaiman A., who was born in the Afghan city of Herat. He is said to live in the state of Hesse, about 40 kilometers from Mannheim. The man was not yet in the picture as an extremist, writes Der Spiegel. Before the attack he was said to have been around the stands for several minutes.

Who is Stürzenberger?

According to the German newspaper Bild, Stürzenberger is a former politician of the CSU and worked as a journalist for the German broadcasters RTL and Sat1. According to Bild, he became radicalized after a friend of his was killed in a terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008. He then left the CSU, the sister party of the CDU, and joined the more radical party Die Freiheit.

Since then, he has been involved in collecting signatures with the aim of preventing the construction of a mosque and demonstrating together with the right-wing extremist party NPD. He was a well-known face at anti-Islam meetings, including those of the anti-Islam movement Pegida.

Stürzenberger was convicted twice: once for insulting a police officer and once for incitement against minorities.