A Right-wing activist targeted by an Afghan terrorist in a stabbing rampage has blamed “political Islam” for growing violence in Germany.
In his first public remarks since the stabbing, Michael Stürzenberger, 59, also paid tribute to the police officer who died while subduing the attacker.
“My thoughts are with his family and his police colleagues, who could always rely on him, as has been reported. He did his best in Mannheim on Friday,” Mr Stürzenberger said.
“He was the victim of a brutal, ruthless killer who apparently, due to his ideology, saw the police as his enemy. Because they defend the free, democratic constitutional state that he wants to abolish… political Islam is the greatest threat to our security and freedom.”
Mr Stürzenberger was stabbed in the face and leg during the attack in Mannheim on Friday morning, as the attacker, identified by police as Sulaiman A, a 25-year-old Afghan citizen, lashed out with a knife.
The assailant then stabbed a police officer in the neck. Named by German media as Rouven L, 29, the officer fell into a coma and died in hospital over the weekend.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has condemned the “terrible” attack and called for the perpetrator to be “severely punished”.
“I am deeply saddened that the brave police officer succumbed to his serious injuries after the terrible attack in Mannheim,” he wrote in a post on social media on Sunday.
“His commitment to the security of us all deserves the highest recognition. In these bitter hours, my thoughts are with his family and all those who mourn him,” he added.
Mr Stürzenberger had been taking part in a rally organised by the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa when the attack, which was captured by a bystander on video, unfolded.
The controversial blogger was formerly a spokesman for the Christian Social Union, the sister party of the Christian Democratic Union in Bavaria.
He has been on the radar of German security services for about a decade, owing to convictions for inciting hatred and insulting police.
Mr Stürzenberger was fined for calling Islam a “cancer” in a blog post but was then acquitted, and he was prosecuted successfully for claiming at a rally that all Muslims were potentially terrorists.
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