Second Mannheim Stabbing: Local AfD politician victim slashed with a carpet cutter six days after the Sulaiman Ataee's knife attack

Heinrich Koch was assaulted after confronting apparent leftist vandals who were ripping down his party's political posters.

Once again we have video, and rather less dramatic.

The victim, who took this footage, is an AfD local politician and Rheinau municipal. councillor named Heinrich Koch. He suffered lacerations to his ear and belly and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The police are at pains to downplay the political nature of the attack. From their official statement:

On Tuesday evening at 10.30 pm, a 25-year-old suspect was arrested in Schwabenheimer Straße in Mannheim. He had allegedly damaged and stolen several election posters on Relaisstraße. The police were informed by witnesses. An AfD politician, who had also become aware of the incident, pursued the suspect and apprehended him. The 25-year-old suspect then allegedly injured the AfD politician with a utility knife. The suspect then fled in the direction of Schwabenheimer Straße, where he was arrested without resistance by officers from Mannheim police headquarters.

The victim was taken to a nearby hospital. He did not suffer any life-threatening injuries.

When the 25-year-old suspect was arrested, there were clear indications of mental illness, and was accordingly admitted to a psychiatric hospital. According to the current state of the investigation, there are no concrete indications that the suspect recognised that the injured party was an AfD politician when he carried out the attack.

Probably half of Antifa have “clear indications of mental illness.” Why that should matter is unclear to me, but all major press reports are leading with that detail to defuse the story. Other reporting clarifies that the suspect was part of a group of vandals tearing down AfD campaign posters, which is against the law in Germany.

That would be sufficient to make this a politically motivated crime and a major headline were the victim a politician from any other party. Because it is the AfD, however, the case remains a great enigma. From Die Zeit:

Was it a politically motivated attack? It is impossible to say for sure. As the video shows, the suspect had AfD election posters under his arm before the scuffle broke out. However, according to the current state of the investigation, the police and public prosecutor’s office have ‘no concrete evidence that the suspect recognised that the injured party was an AfD politician’ during the attack.

The party blames left-wing extremist AfD opponents for the offence. There had already been calls online for attacks on AfD politicians in Mannheim, said AfD district chairman Rüdiger Ernst. Antifa had called on the Internet to destroy AfD posters. This has not yet been confirmed by the investigators.