German police have shot a knifeman who stabbed six people in Mannheim during a live stream by a prominent critic of Islam.
A video that captured the entire attack showed bystanders stepping in to try to stop the attacker, but he broke free and stabbed a police officer in the back before being shot by another officer.
The first victim was named as Michael Sturzenberger, a 59-year-old hard-Right blogger who once compared the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
German media reports said the officer was in critical condition, while Mr Sturzenberger received surgery for wounds to his face and leg, which were not life-threatening.
Mr Sturzenberger was taking part in a demonstration by the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa (BPE) in Mannheim’s market square at around 11.30am local time when he was attacked.
The activist and blogger was formerly the press spokesman for the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of the opposition CDU.
He has previously come under scrutiny from anti-extremism authorities in Germany between 2013 and 2022, and has convictions for insulting the police and inciting hatred.
He was fined for calling Islam a “cancer” in a blog post before being acquitted, and was successfully prosecuted for saying all Muslims were potential terrorists at a rally.
Footage of the attack, shared on social media, showed the attacker, a bearded man with glasses, attacking another man close to a van and posters for the demonstration in the square. As people ran to help, the man attempted to get away from his attacker but was pursued and stabbed.
Both men fell to the ground, where the knifeman continued his assault, appearing to stab his victim in the body and leg. More bystanders ran to help and the attacker lashed out at them with his blade.
An officer entered the melee and the knifeman stabbed him in the back before he was shot at close range by another officer as more police arrived on the scene.
One of the bystanders threw the dropped knife away from the attacker, who could be seen lying prone on the cobbled square. The square is in the middle of the centre of Mannheim, a city of 300,000 inhabitants.
A rescue helicopter was deployed during the incident, which police described as a large-scale operation. They said that three people were wounded, including the police officer, and that the attacker had been arrested after he was shot. They are investigating whether the motive was political.
Stefanie Kizina, the BPE treasurer, told the German tabloid Bild: “This was not an attack, but an act of terror. The attack happened before the event even started – it must have been planned well in advance. Criticism of religion must be allowed – it is a core element of the European Enlightenment.”
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said he was appalled by the footage of the attack and called for the perpetrator to be “severely punished”.
Mr Sturzenberger first came to public attention through a petition against the construction of a mosque in Munich and standing for election on anti-Islam platforms.
A former journalist, he became the press spokesman for the centre-Right CSU but was radicalised after a friend died in the 2008 Islamist terror attacks in Mumbai.
He joined the now defunct Die Freiheit party and spoke at rallies for the anti-Islam Pegida movement.
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