A 17-year-old boy voluntarily surrendered to the police after confessing to attacking a German politician, Matthias Ecke, a candidate for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the upcoming European elections. The incident occurred while Ecke was putting up campaign posters in Dresden, East Germany. The minor admitted to the assault at a police station in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Saxony Police reported that the minor was not acting alone, with three other individuals suspected of participating in the attack. However, their current whereabouts remain unknown. Another campaigner, representing the Greens Party, was also targeted by the group of four assailants.
The SPD Saxony branch attributed the violence to the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has been gaining support, particularly in Eastern States like Saxony. The SPD condemned the attack, labeling it as a tactic of fascists and pointing fingers at right-wing extremists for inciting such behavior.
Jörg Urban, the AfD party leader in Saxony, denounced the attack as an assault on democracy. While condemning the violence, Urban also suggested that the SPD's aggressive stance towards political opponents might contribute to such escalations.
Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, expressed concern over the attack, emphasizing the threat such incidents pose to democracy. Scholz wished Matthias Ecke a swift recovery following emergency facial surgery he underwent as a result of the assault.
