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A politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was stabbed on Tuesday by a suspect wielding a box cutter in Mannheim in the country’s southwest, according to police.
The attack comes amid a string of violent attacks on politicians in Germany that has sparked a national debate over rising political violence and the increasingly raw domestic political climate.
The alleged attacker had torn down and damaged several election campaign posters before a local AfD politician “pursued the suspect and apprehended him,” according to a police statement. The male suspect, 25, then allegedly injured the politician with a box cutter.
The victim was identified as 62-year-old Heinrich Koch, a local candidate for the municipal council. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to police.
A local AfD spokesperson described the suspect as a left-wing extremist, but police did not confirm that claim. Law enforcement said the suspect showed “clear indications of mental illness” and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
“There are no concrete indications that the suspect realized the victim to be an AfD politician at the time of the attack,” the police statement read.
Last year saw 86 violent attacks on AfD party representatives — more than on any other party, according to statistics. The perpetrators often endorsed left-wing extremism.
Representatives of the Greens were violently attacked 62 times, second behind the AfD.
The attack on the AfD politician comes only days after another knife attack in the same city resulted in the death of a police officer. The suspect in that incident was allegedly motivated by Islamist extremism, according to authorities.
