All news

German politician stabbed in Mannheim — newspaper

A police officer grabbed the man who was attacked, making it possible for the attacker to break loose and stab the policeman in his back, after which the attacker was immediately shot by another police officer

BERLIN, May 31. /TASS/. Michael Sturzenberger, a German far-right politician and staunch opponent of Islam, was injured after being stabbed in the city of Mannheim, Germany, the Bild newspaper reported.

The incident took place on Friday morning during a rally held by the Pax Europe movement on the city’s market square.

After the knifeman stabbed Sturzenberger, other participants in the rally tried to stop him but failed.

A video posted on social networks features a man attacking another one, with both falling to the ground. The man attacked was stabbed in the thigh. A police officer grabbed the man who was attacked, making it possible for the attacker to break loose and stab the policeman in his back, after which the attacker was immediately shot by another police officer.

No data on the condition of the victims is available. The knifeman, according to Bild, was shot dead. Other media outlets, however, say that he was merely wounded.

Sturzenberger is notorious in Germany for his Islamophobic views. Some time ago, he represented the Christian Social Union conservative party in Munich. Then, he was the leader of the Freedom Party, which no longer exists. He keeps an anti-Islamic blog and is known for advancing civic initiatives to ban the construction of mosques in Munich. He has twice been cited for criminal activity, once for insulting a policeman and another time for instigating religious hatred.