Update (2000ET): A 29-year-old German police officer who was repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in the city of Mannheim has died of his wounds after having been "stabbed several times in the area of the head."
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The policeman was previously identified as Rouven L. by German media and was being kept alive by a heart-lung machine |
The officer, identified as Rouven L in German media, underwent emergency surgery following the attack and was placed in an artificial coma, only to die of his injuries on Sunday, the Daily Mail reports.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he was "deeply saddened" by the officer's death.
"His commitment to the safety of all of us deserves the highest recognition," Scholz posted on X.
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Incredible scenes from Mannheim: Man stabs Islam critic Michael Stürzenberger in front of running cameras. When a police officer intervenes, he is also stabbed.A police officer who tried to stop the attacker was also attacked and stabbed in the neck and head. According to the local regional newspaper Mannheimer Morgen, the officer was seriously injured. The video ends with the attacker being shot down by approaching officers.
The attack took place during a rally of the anti-Islam "Citizens' Movement Pax Europa". Stürzenberger has been reading suras from the Koran for years. He has therefore been the target of radical Muslims for some time. He became known throughout Germany with a citizens' petition against the construction of a mosque in Munich. However, this was rejected by the administration of the Bavarian capital for formal reasons.
Not the first attack on Stürzenberger
According to the citizens' movement, there is apparently no danger to his life. "He was hit in the leg and face and is undergoing emergency surgery. This is the second serious attack on him," the association noted. In 2022, a 20-year-old of Arab descent punched the Islam critic in the face in Bonn. The district court dropped the proceedings against the perpetrator at the time, subject to certain conditions.
The crime scene is temporarily a knife-free zone on weekends
The crime occurred in a so-called knife-free zone in the city. Carrying knives and similar objects is strictly prohibited there on Fridays from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturdays, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sundays, and on days before public holidays from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the morning of the public holiday. However, this did not apply at the time of the crime.
First political reactions
The chairman of the German police union, Rainer Wendt, commented on the attack on Welt TV. "When two extremists meet, it becomes dangerous," he said, calling Stürzenberger an "extremist critic of Islam" and the attacker "possibly an Islamist." He praised the use of firearms and noted that being near a "knife hero" was life-threatening for police officers.
Scholz and Faeser comment on Mannheim
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) condemned the attack and wished those attacked a full recovery. She also commented on the possible motive on X. "If the investigations reveal an Islamist motive, then that would be a further confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence that we have warned about," she wrote.
Realax: