Attack in Gera
SPD city council candidate pushed in the chest and insulted
May 12, 2024, 8:43 p.m
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In view of the wave of violence against politicians, Thuringia’s head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is warning of increasing radicalization from the left and the right across the political spectrum. Meanwhile, there is already the next attack – in Gera, when a city council candidate distributes election advertising in mailboxes.
A 36-year-old SPD city council candidate was pushed and insulted while distributing election advertising in Gera on Sunday. The suspected perpetrator was a 56-year-old, the police said. The local politician was just throwing notes into mailboxes when a resident pushed him in the chest and insulted him. The candidate was not injured, it was said.
Criminal proceedings were initiated against the alleged attacker for insult and bodily harm. There is currently no information about the motives for the attack. Local elections will take place in Thuringia on May 26th, and new municipal and city councils will be elected everywhere. The district administrators will also be re-elected in 13 of 17 districts, as well as the mayors in all five independent cities. Mayoral and local mayoral elections are also coming up in many places.
The series of attacks on politicians and campaign workers continues. Thuringia’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, is warning against radicalization from all directions. “It’s not just from the right, but also from the left when we look at how left-wing extremists act violently against actors from the right-wing spectrum,” said Kramer in the ARD “Report from Berlin”. If you also look at the demonstrations about Israel and the violent riots at universities, you see that “both camps basically give each other nothing.”
Kramer considers the election campaign under police protection to be “weird”
“We have radicalization from all directions, including violence.” You can’t trivialize that by saying, “well, that’s where the right people meet.” In the face of radicalization and disinhibition through the use of violence, the constitutional state must ensure that this does not become more widespread. It not only affects elected officials, but also people who are involved in civil society, in singing or sports clubs. “Anyone who takes a stand suddenly has to deal with corresponding attacks and threats and intimidation.”
Kramer went on to say that he certainly didn’t have the cardinal solution in his drawer. “But I will say: election campaigning under police protection, that it’s weird, I think everyone notices that.” He doesn’t have to speak for the police now, but they have a lot on their plate. Kramer referred to the European football championship, the Olympic Games and an increased Islamist threat of terrorist attacks.
A series of attacks on politicians and campaign workers recently caused horror across the country. In Dresden, SPD election campaigner Matthias Ecke was beaten until he was hospitalized and local politician Yvonne Mosler was jostled and threatened while hanging up election posters. In Berlin, after an attack on Economics Senator Franziska Giffey, a suspect was temporarily placed in a psychiatric hospital. AfD politicians were also targets of attacks.