Anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger has been injured Friday in a knife attack in the German city of Mannheim.
Police said the assailant wounded multiple people before being shot by responding officers, according to The Associated Press.
The attack was captured on camera by the Buergerbewegung Pax Europa group. One of those injured was Michael Stürzenberger, described by Euronews as a German far-right activist and anti-Islam critic who is a member of the organization.
Buergerbewegung Pax Europa has vocally opposed Islam and Muslims in Germany, including pushing for a ban on mosques, Euronews adds.
A man with a knife stabbed multiple people Friday, May 31, 2024, in Mannheim, Germany, video showed. (Buergerbewegung Pax Europa)
Buergerbewegung Pax Europa later said in a statement that Stürzenberger suffered “severe stab wounds to his face and leg” and has been taken to a local hospital for treatment.
“A police officer who tried to stop the attacker was also stabbed in the back and neck by the assassin and also had to be taken to [a] hospital,” it added, noting the attacker “apparently survived” being shot by police.
A banner was on display at the scene with the message “stop political Islam!”
Police said in a statement that there was no longer any danger to the public. There was no official word on the motive. One of those injured in the stabbing was a police officer.
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Police and firefighters are deployed following a knife attack in Mannheim, Germany, on Friday, May 31. (Rene Priebe/dpa via AP)
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that it’s up to the investigation to determine a motive. She said in a statement that “if the investigation shows an Islamist motive, that would be another confirmation of the great danger from Islamist acts of violence that we have warned of,” according to The Associated Press.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted on X that “the pictures from Mannheim are terrible” and that “violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy.”
Investigators stand behind a smashed stall on the market square in Mannheim, Germany, following the stabbing incident on Friday, May 31. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
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The stabbings happened on the Marktplatz, a square in Mannheim’s downtown area. The city of about 300,000 people is located south of Frankfurt.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
