A German police officer, who was stabbed in the neck two days ago by an Afghan immigrant at a right-wing demonstration in Mannheim, has succumbed to his injuries.
“A German police officer died of his injuries after being stabbed several times while trying to pull somebody clear of a knife attack on Friday,” according to the Federal Public Prosecution Office, which is investigating the stabbing.
The 29-year-old officer was the only person who died during the knife attack that left five other people injured in the central square of Mannheim.
The attack took place during an anti-Islamist protest led by Michael Sturzenberger, who was the main target of the attack and among those wounded.
A livestream broadcast from central Mannheim on Friday had shown Stuerzenberger preparing to address a small crowd at an event by the Pax Europa Movement.
The suspect was shot by police and he was alive but in the hospital. He is in no fit state to be interrogated, and therefore, his motives and the reason for his attack required further investigation. The suspect had no criminal record and had not come to law enforcement's attention in the past.
The attack caused a wave of widespread condemnations across Germany and again opened a debate about the danger posed by extremists in the country.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed that anyone glorifying such acts of violence must face the full severity of criminal law, underscoring the government’s commitment to pursuing these matters vigorously.
The Green Party’s responses included statements from Ricarda Lang, who said: “Islamism is the enemy of a free society. And it must be treated as such and must be combated, in terms of security policy and society as a whole. There can be no excuses, no justification.”
Lang then called for the closure of the Islamic Center of Hamburg which she said is controlled from Tehran.
Last year, Germany's federal police had raided the Center on suspicions of support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is accused of terrorism.
According to Lang, the center should have been closed long ago. “I still can't understand why it is still open,” she said.
