AfD municipal council candidate Heinrich Koch was injured in Mannheim while pursuing a thief who was stealing election posters. A 25-year-old suspect was apprehended and taken to a psychiatric hospital, as authorities stated that there were clear signs of a mental illness. Koch was not critically injured and suffered cuts behind his ear and a stab wound in his left lower abdomen. While there is currently no concrete evidence that the suspect knew Koch was an AfD politician, Koch believes the attack was politically motivated. The suspect has been brought before a judge who issued a detention order for attempted manslaughter and ordered him to be placed in a psychiatric facility.
The incident, according to the AfD district association, took place near the marketplace in the Mannheim district of Rheinau at 10:45 pm on Tuesday evening. Koch caught several poster tearers in the act and, with the help of bystanders, was able to apprehend one of them, who then attacked him with a box cutter. The suspect managed to flee but was later arrested by police without resistance. A video filmed by Koch himself shows the moments leading up to the attack, where the younger man with the posters can be seen holding a box cutter. Koch was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, including cuts that required stitches.
Koch, a former lieutenant colonel in the paratrooper unit, had his training in close combat and attempted to defend himself during the attack, sustaining injuries to his ear and abdomen. The AfD initially stated that the attack was carried out by left-wing extremists, although this was not confirmed by the authorities. AfD politicians have condemned the violence, with party leader Tino Chrupalla attributing such incidents to societal divisions and calling for unity in the country. AfD leaders criticized the government and the media for creating a hostile environment towards the opposition, leading to extreme physical attacks.
Various politicians have also denounced the attack, including Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Mannheim’s Mayor Christian Specht, emphasizing that there is no justification for violence. The incident comes shortly after a deadly knife attack at an event in Mannheim the week before, where a 25-year-old Afghan man attacked multiple people, including a police officer who later succumbed to his injuries. These incidents highlight a trend of violence against politicians, with several other attacks occurring in recent weeks, such as the assault on SPD candidate Matthias Ecke in Dresden. Such incidents underscore the need for increased security measures and a united stance against political violence.
