Suspects identified after attack on SPD politician

After the beating attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke and a Green Party election worker in Dresden, the police have identified all four suspects. The Saxony State Office of Criminal Investigation attributes at least one of them to the right-wing spectrum. It is assumed that the suspect belongs to the "politically-motivated right-wing category", a spokeswoman for the LKA announced on Monday.

After a 17-year-old had already reported to the police on Sunday, the three other suspects have now also been identified, the LKA and the Dresden public prosecutor's office reported. According to the information, evidence was seized during house searches and is now being analyzed. The four male suspects are 17 or 18 years old. The background to the attack, which has caused nationwide horror, is still unclear. The motive is the subject of the investigation, according to the public prosecutor's office. All four suspects are at large.

Ecke himself sent a message of thanks from the hospital: "I am overwhelmed by your sympathy and solidarity," he wrote on X. It does him good and gives him strength. But it's not just about him. "No one should have to fear speaking their mind in a democracy!" Ecke also posted a photo showing him with a black eye and plaster on his face and what appears to be a hospital room in the background.

In Berlin, deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said that attacks on politicians and volunteer campaigners "threaten our democracy". What the motive was in each individual case and against whom the attack was directed was irrelevant.

SPD politician suffered serious injuries to his face

Ecke, who is the Saxon SPD's lead candidate for the European elections, underwent surgery on Sunday. The 41-year-old suffered a fracture to his cheekbone and eye socket as well as hematomas on his face, said Saxony's SPD leader Henning Homann. According to police, shortly before the attack on Ecke, the same group presumably also injured a Green Party campaign worker nearby.

Police hope for information from witnesses after attack in Essen

It is not known who was involved in an attack on two Green Party politicians in Essen last Thursday. "We have not yet been able to identify any suspects," said a police spokeswoman on Monday. Investigators are now hoping that further information from witnesses will lead them to the perpetrators. State security has taken over the investigation and is examining whether the crime was politically motivated. Member of the Bundestag Kai Gehring and the third mayor of the city of Essen, Rolf Fliß (both Greens), were attacked after a party event, according to their own statements. After an initially friendly conversation, an argument and insults ensued. Fliß was then punched in the face and slightly injured.

Interior Minister Maier: Don't put up election posters alone at night

Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier said that prevention and repression are needed to better protect politicians. "We cannot avoid recommending rules of conduct," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency. This is unfortunate because it already achieves one of the attackers' goals: intimidation. "We have to expect attacks everywhere," said Maier, who is also the head of the SPD in Thuringia and the lead candidate of the Social Democrats for the state elections on September 1.

He himself had once again sensitized SPD campaigners to pay attention to their own safety, "to be careful, not to put up posters alone, especially not in the evening or at night". Repression is also necessary: everything must be done to solve such crimes.

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert said that the answer to the attack on Ecke could not just be the question of how election campaigners could now be "manhandled" by security forces, Kühnert said. "Rather, the question must be how we can create a security environment with a defensive democracy in which it is no longer acceptable to hunt down people who take their party commitment to the streets."

FDP frequently experiences insults

FDP campaigners are also experiencing more aggression during the election campaign than in previous years. Insults in particular have increased, as has vandalism of election posters, party spokesman Michael Lindner told dpa. However, we will not be deterred by this and will continue to stand up for freedom of opinion, democracy and fair competition between centrist political ideas," he added. Nevertheless, he advised members and campaigners to act cautiously and not alone.

The chairman of the Greens, Omid Nouripour, said that his party was taking security measures and organizing workshops across Germany. These were intended to prepare campaigners for escalations and help them deal with disruptions at events and campaign stands. In some places, supporters have not been going out alone at night to put up posters for some time now. Green Party domestic politician Misbah Khan also sees Russian influence behind the growing aggression. "Fuelled by state-orchestrated disinformation campaigns, which are also part of Russia's hybrid warfare, extremists have now developed enormous self-confidence and extensive organizational structures to shake the foundations of our society."

The federal and state interior ministers want to discuss possible consequences of the violence against election campaigners on Tuesday. According to preliminary figures from the federal government, AfD politicians were the target of violence in 86 cases last year. Members of the Greens were affected in 62 cases. According to the figures, 35 violent crimes were directed against SPD politicians. In 20 cases, politicians from the Left Party were targeted, and in 10 cases the victims were members of the FDP. According to the figures, 19 violent crimes were directed against CDU politicians. In two cases, 2023 members of the CSU were attacked.