Once again, several politicians have been attacked nationwide. In Karlsruhe, two AfD city councilors were attacked by masked perpetrators in front of a café in the city center on Saturday. Three people, including the two city councilors, were slightly injured, a police spokesman in Karlsruhe told the dpa news agency in the evening. The three were treated on site. The police temporarily arrested five people and released them after establishing their identities. Other suspected perpetrators fled.
According to the AfD, the city councilors were attacked with a baseball bat. The police said a stick was found on site. Whether a baseball bat was also used could neither be confirmed nor denied, said the police spokesman.
According to the AfD in the Karlsruhe city council, the attack came from the left-wing radical scene; around ten people were involved. The police were initially unable to provide any information on this. “Only the courageous intervention of security personnel sitting at the next table prevented something worse from happening,” said a statement from the AfD in the Karlsruhe city council in the evening.
Another attack occurred on Saturday in Dresden. According to his party, the Saxon AfD state parliament member Hans-Jürgen Zickler was attacked at an information stand. The man suddenly punched the 70-year-old Zickler in the face on Saturday, said the AfD Saxony spokesman Andreas Harlaß. The attacker was detained until the police arrived. A criminal complaint has been filed.
Dresden police confirmed an incident. According to them, a 47-year-old man hit a 70-year-old man at a polling station. The suspect’s personal details were recorded. He is being investigated on suspicion of bodily harm. The police did not name names for reasons of privacy protection.
Two further attacks on politicians took place on Friday. In Bargteheide, Schleswig-Holstein, the SPD had invited people to an election campaign called “We’re making kebabs 3 euros again” and distributed vouchers for discounted kebabs. According to the SPD regional association, SPD Bundestag MP Bengt Bergt and EU candidate Fabian Vehlies were also present. The party said on Saturday that a firecracker was thrown into a group of people. Bergt was narrowly missed by the firework, which detonated only a short distance away from him. No one was injured.
The other incident occurred on Friday in Eisenberg, Thuringia: According to party sources, the Left’s direct and list candidate for the state elections, Steffen Much, was insulted and attacked in a supermarket. At the supermarket checkout, a man insulted the politician without cause and finally grabbed him by his T-shirt. Much was unharmed and filed a complaint against the attacker, whose name he knows.