A commotion suddenly breaks out in Göttingen city center: A man repeatedly hits state parliament member Marie Kollenrott. The police arrest the suspected perpetrator shortly afterwards.
At an election campaign event in downtown Göttingen, Lower Saxony state parliament member Marie Kollenrott (Greens) was attacked and slightly injured. The police and the Greens parliamentary group announced this on Saturday evening.
According to the police’s current findings, a man hit the politician several times in the upper body at midday. According to the police, Kollenrott suffered minor injuries to his arms. The officers arrested the suspected attacker shortly afterwards near the crime scene. They established the identity of the 66-year-old and then released him. State security has taken over further investigations.
“We condemn the attack in the strongest possible terms,” said Green Party leader Anne Kura in the evening. “Physical attacks on democrats are an attack on our democracy. We are shocked, but we will not be intimidated.” Violence should never be a means of political conflict, said Kura.
Perpetrator made derogatory comments about the Greens
According to initial findings, the man from Göttingen made derogatory comments about the Greens near the campaign stand in a pedestrian zone near the Old Town Hall, according to the police. There was apparently a brief political discussion with the victim. The man then approached the politician. He hit the woman in the upper body and walked away. The state parliament member and a witness reportedly gave chase and alerted the police.
Several attacks on politicians and campaign workers have caused nationwide horror in recent weeks. In Dresden, SPD campaigner Matthias Ecke was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized, and local politician Yvonne Mosler (Greens) was jostled and threatened while hanging election posters. In Berlin, a suspect was temporarily placed in a psychiatric hospital after an attack on Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD). AfD politicians were also the target of attacks.
Source: Stern
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