The individual who carried out a brutal attack on an anti-Islamification rally in Mannheim, Germany, on Friday has been identified as an Afghan migrant who arrived in the country ten years ago.
The Afghan migrant targeted a small demonstration against political Islam in Germany led by Michael Stürzenberger, a member of the “Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa” campaign group.
Stürzenberger, a fervent critic of Islamic immigration to Germany, was one of six people — including a police officer — injured during the chaotic knife attack on Friday.
“The stab wound to my thigh hit veins and caused significant blood loss. There was a second stab wound to my leg above the knee, but luckily the tendon was not damaged. The injury to my upper arm was relatively minor. The stab wounds to my face were different. I have staples in the side of my jaw. My upper lip was stitched up and I had a gaping open wound down to my teeth.”
“A big thank you to all the doctors and facial surgeons who came especially from a specialist clinic,” he said, adding: “What a single Afghan ‘refugee’ can do with a knife…”
The 59-year-old activist, who has faced multiple legal actions for his anti-Islam comments, is now under police protection in his hospital bed.
Forensics officers stand behind a smashed stall on the market square in Mannheim, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2024. An assailant with a knife attacked and wounded several people in a central square in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday, police said. Police shot the attacker, who also was hurt. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
During the attack, a police officer was also stabbed multiple times around the head from behind by the Afghan migrant. The officer has been placed in an artificial coma, with a spokesman for the State Criminal Police Office reporting on Saturday that “his life is still in danger”.
After stabbing five people, Sulaiman A. was shot by a police officer and subsequently underwent surgery. The 25-year-old migrant from Afghanistan has therefore not been questioned by police, and no motive has yet been identified for the attack.
According to Bild, the migrant resided in the city of Heppenheim in the state of Hesse, roughly a 40-minute drive from the location of the attack in Mannheim.
Speaking to the paper, a neighbor of Sulaiman’s said: “He was inconspicuous, we greeted each other normally… But recently, about the last year, I noticed that he had changed. Before, he was helpful, then he suddenly became colder. He was suddenly more withdrawn. And also more aggressive.”
“In hindsight, you have to be glad that nothing happened to you,” another said. “He drives a VW Passat and attacks Germans with a knife, that doesn’t fit together.”
The attack has shocked Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz responded to the violent act: “The images from Mannheim are terrible… My thoughts are with the victims. Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.”
