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New knife attack wounds local German politician

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In Mannheim, Germany, a local politician was attacked just days after a police officer was fatally stabbed in the city’s market square. The victim, Heinrich Koch, a 62-year-old candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, sustained cuts in the incident, according to the German press agency DPA. The police confirmed that the attack took place on Tuesday evening, near the site of the previous deadly assault on rally organizers against radical Islam, which resulted in the death of a 29-year-old officer.

Koch was hospitalized for treatment but his injuries were not life-threatening. The local AfD association reported that the altercation occurred after Koch pursued a man who was tearing down election posters. The assailant then cut Koch with a knife. The police arrested a 25-year-old suspect who exhibited signs of mental illness and was subsequently taken to a psychiatric hospital. Authorities indicated that there was no solid evidence the attacker knew Koch was an AfD politician.

This recent violence follows the stabbing of a police officer by an Afghan asylum seeker, which led to the officer’s death and injuries to five others during preparations for an anti-radical Islam rally. The 25-year-old suspect, who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2013 and has two children, was detained. In response to the killing, which incited widespread outrage, the German government has indicated it might resume deportations to Afghanistan, halted since the Taliban regained control three years ago.

These incidents occur as Germany gears up for European Parliament elections and municipal elections in seven states, including Baden-Württemberg, where the AfD is competing against the centre-left Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz for second place. The AfD’s campaign has been marred by various scandals. Markus Frohnmaier, a senior AfD official in Baden-Württemberg, expressed shock and dismay at the attack on Koch.

Violent incidents have also been reported in other parts of Germany in the run-up to Sunday’s European elections. Chancellor Scholz recently warned of threats to democracy following attacks on political figures, including Matthias Ecke of Scholz’s party in Dresden and a female Greens politician in the same city. Berlin senator Franziska Giffey, a prominent former minister from Scholz’s party, was also assaulted last month during a visit to a local library.

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German anti-Islamic activist hurt in a stabbing incident

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A man attacked six people, including a police officer, with a knife in Mannheim, a city in southwestern Germany, as confirmed by police. One of the injured was anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger, who was preparing for a rally in the market square, organized by the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa (BPE). The incident was livestreamed on YouTube, showing the attacker stabbing a man and then a police officer who tried to intervene. The officer is in critical condition.

The attacker was shot and injured by another police officer. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the attack, emphasizing that violence is unacceptable in a democracy and calling for severe punishment for the perpetrator. Mannheim police confirmed a major operation in the market square, with a rescue helicopter dispatched to the scene.

The attack occurred at 11:35 AM (10:35 BST) during the rally hosted by Michael Stürzenberger’s group. Stürzenberger was injured in the leg and face and requires surgery, though his life is not in danger. The attack, which seemed premeditated, took place before the rally began. The attacker injured five BPE members and one police officer, with the officer in critical condition requiring emergency surgery.

The suspect, whose identity has not been officially released, is a 25-year-old Afghan-born resident of Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser suggested the possibility of an Islamist motive behind the attack.

Michael Stürzenberger, a far-right activist known for his Islamophobic blog and involvement with BPE, is a former politician previously affiliated with the Christian Social Union (CSU) before leading the now-dissolved right-wing party Die Freiheit.

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Outrage in Paris following police shooting of teenager who defied traffic stop

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Violent protests erupted in Paris overnight following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old who failed to comply with a traffic stop order by police. Video footage circulating on social media shows a police officer aiming a gun at the driver of a car, followed by a gunshot and the car subsequently crashing. The teenager, identified as Naël M, succumbed to chest wounds despite receiving assistance from emergency services. The officer responsible for the shooting has been apprehended on charges of homicide.

Initially, the police claimed that the teen had driven his car toward them with the intent to harm. However, verified footage contradicts this account, revealing two officers attempting to stop the vehicle. One officer points his weapon at the driver through the window and seemingly fires at close range as the driver tries to flee. In the video, an unidentified person can be heard saying, “you’re going to be shot in the head,” but the speaker’s identity remains unclear.

Two other individuals were in the car at the time of the incident. One of them fled, while the other, also a minor, was detained by the police. The shooting triggered protests in the Nanterre area, located west of Paris, with incidents of arson, destruction of bus shelters, and the use of fireworks near the police station. Riot police employed tear gas to disperse the protesters, leading to the arrest of twenty individuals.

Following the teenager’s death, two separate investigations have been initiated—one into the potential misconduct of a public official resulting in a fatality, and another into the driver’s failure to stop the vehicle and alleged attempt to harm a police officer.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez expressed concerns about the officer’s actions, although he suggested the officer may have felt threatened. The family’s lawyer contested this justification, stating that the video unequivocally depicted a police officer deliberately killing the young man. The family filed a complaint against the police for providing false information initially, claiming that the car had attempted to run over the officers.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the video shared on social media as “extremely shocking” and called on people to respect the family’s grief and the presumption of innocence for the police. Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon extended his condolences to the teen’s family, emphasizing that no officer has the right to kill unless in self-defense. He called for a comprehensive reform of the uncontrolled police force, which he believes undermines the authority of the state.

This incident follows another fatal police shooting two weeks earlier in Angouleme, where a 19-year-old driver was killed after allegedly hitting an officer during a traffic stop. Last year, a record number of 13 individuals died in police shootings during traffic stops in France, according to Reuters. Naël M’s death marks the second such incident this year.

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