German policeman dies after being wounded in stabbing attack at anti-Islam rally
Officer was repeatedly stabbed while trying to intervene; assailant also wounded 5 demonstrators, including prominent far-right activist
BERLIN, Germany — A 29-year-old police officer died on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in Germany.
A knife-wielding man attacked and wounded several people Friday on the market square in the city of Mannheim in southwest Germany.
Five people taking part in a rally organized by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, were wounded in the attack, and German media reported that one of the victims of the assault was prominent far-right activist and blogger Michael Stuerzenberger.
Stuerzenberger, who had been due to speak at the rally, suffered serious stab wounds to his face and also to his leg, Pax Europa said on Friday.
The other wounded rallygoers were four men ages 25, 36, 42, and 54. The 54-year-old man suffered injuries that were initially life-threatening, but he was now out of danger.
The policeman, meanwhile, was “stabbed several times in the area of the head,” while trying to intervene, local police said in a statement.
Immediately following the attack, he underwent “emergency surgery and was put in an artificial coma,” but “died of his injuries” on Sunday, police said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of the police officer following the “terrible attack.”
“His commitment to the safety of all of us deserves the highest recognition,” Scholz said on X, formerly Twitter.
If an Islamist motive behind the attack is confirmed, it would “show(s) how strongly we must continue to fight Islamist terror,st” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.
“Our security authorities have the Islamist scene firmly in their sights,” Faeser added.
“We must defend ourselves against Islamist terrorism with determination, and we will also strengthen the security authorities financially,” Finance Minister Christian Lindner told German daily Bild.
Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas with the country’s domestic intelligence chief warning that the risk of such assaults is “real and higher than it has been for a long time.”
The country had also seen a spate of attacks on politicians at work or on the campaign trail ahead of the European Union elections on June 9.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said last week that he was worried by the growing trend and said Germans “must never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions.”
