An anti-Islam activist who was stabbed at a far-right rally in Germany has described the rampage as an ‘absolute nightmare’ – as he warned the attack was an ‘attack on our free democratic state’.
Michael Stuerzenberger, a well-known German Islam critic, a police officer and four others were injured when the knifeman launched a frenzied attack in Mannheim on Friday.
Mr Stuerzenberger, who prepared to address a small crowd via livestream earlier in the morning, was rushed to hospital before undergoing successful surgery on the stab wounds to his face.
A 25-year-old man from Afghanistan who was shot and wounded by police has been released from hospital and taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder.
He spoke for the first time from his hospital bed, Mr. Stuerzenberger said BIL: ‘It was like an apocalypse. He stabbed me even as I lay on the ground trying to fend him off with my feet. It really was a nightmare.’
He added: “Every attack is an attack against all of us, against our free democratic state and against those who guarantee our security. Anyone who attacks a police officer launches an attack on all of us.’
Anti-Muslim campaigner Michael Stuerzenberger (pictured) has spoken from his hospital bed after being stabbed by a knifeman at an anti-Islam rally in Germany
The attacker was seen holding a knife several inches long as he went on a terrifying rampage
Mr. Stuerzenberger can be seen on the YouTube livestream before the attack took place
Mr Stuerzenberger posted this photo yesterday from his hospital bed after being stabbed by a knifeman
The aftermath of the stabbing can be seen in the German city of Mannheim
Describing the attack, he said: “We were about to begin the event when suddenly he came rushing towards us like a hurricane, stabbing one after another. It was insane. I think even the police were surprised.”
He explained: ‘It stabbed my thigh, which someone immediately isolated. One stab wound above the knee, it could have been worse. Another on the side of the chest, my upper arm is injured and three stab wounds to the head. My upper lip is cut and I have a deep cut in my jaw.’
‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed [for the police officer] and I hope everything goes well,” he added.
The 59-year-old posted a photo of himself to his Telegram channel from his hospital bed yesterday, showing a long, bandaged cut on his upper lip and cheek.
In a separate interview with Deutschland-Kurier, he said: “I’m doing well, considering the circumstances. I’m glad for everyone involved that yesterday went somewhat mildly. There could be deaths. What the Afghan did with his knife was really bad.
‘I have seen parts of the videos and twice the stab in the neck of the police officer. I hope his life is no longer in danger. It was clearly an attempted murder. Seven or eight stab wounds for me, one near the lung, a little closer and that would have been it.”
He added: “He certainly had [combat experience] when you look at the images.
‘It was a lightning strike, so fast. It clearly left me with very deep wounds, which you can see on the side of my jaw.’
It was around 11:35 a.m. local time on Friday when chaos broke out as a man wearing a dark hooded jacket, green shirt and sweatpants lashed out with a knife, injuring six people, including Mr. Stuerzenberger, who was fighting the was tackled to the ground and stabbed in the body. the face and leg.
The other victims were five men aged 25, 36, 42 and 54.
Police arrived almost immediately and an officer jumped on one of the victims.
There was confusion as to why the officer jumped on the victim, but this gave the aggressor the opportunity to stab the back of the officer’s neck.
The police officer, named Rouven L. by German media, is in critical condition and is being kept alive with a heart-lung machine. Image reports.
His colleagues were heard shouting ‘throw the knife away!’ However, because the knifeman did not respond, the officers opened fire at close range.
In a follow-up video of the incident, a group of people are seen involved in a punch-up next to signs advertising an anti-Israel protest.
The group can be seen tackling each other to the ground, while a man in a blue jacket swings several times at another person on the ground.
The rampage began when a man dressed in a dark hooded jacket and tracksuit (seen center right) tackled a BPE member to the ground and began violently brandishing a large knife at him.
The man believed to be Stuerzenberger (right) falls to the ground after the first attack as other BPE members push the knifeman away
During the attack, bystanders tried to drag the knifeman away. One of his victims is seen with wounds to his thigh
The ferocious blade is clearly visible in this grab from the YouTube livestream as the attack stabs the officer in the neck
Other footage captured the moment German officers knocked a man to the ground after mistaking him for the attacker during a horror stabbing in Mannheim, Germany
Police were seen lunging at the man and dragging him to the ground after they saw him waving at another man on the ground
After delivering a series of upper arm blows, at least two officers are seen running towards the man in the brightly colored jacket until he is knocked to the ground.
Officers apparently tackled the man believing he was the attacker after seeing him punch the other person who was already on the ground.
The attack was streamed live on YouTube.
Mr. Stuerzenberger has been part of several far-right organizations, including the PEGIDA movement, which regularly holds marches in German cities.
A 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan, locally named Sulaiman A., has been taken into custody by a German court on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the knife attack.
Officials gave no information about the motive for Friday’s attack on the main square in Mannheim.
A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children.
Residents in Mannheim city center were visibly upset as they laid flowers and lit candles
“It’s definitely scary, this is our way home. We walk past [the market square] daily and will think about what happened here and that it could happen again every day,” 22-year-old student Emilia, who arrived on the scene to place a bouquet, told MailOnline
Locals in Mannheim were shocked by the frenzied attack and came to the market square to lay flowers and light candles for the victims
21-year-old Leo, who also brought flowers to express his condolences for the victims, added: “To see something like this happen in a place where we spend a lot of time ourselves and to know that that is also a friend, my girlfriend or standing there clearly shocked me.”
His apartment in the city of Heppenheim was searched on Friday evening and police recovered digital devices and the contents are being evaluated.
Officials said the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, is in the hospital and unable to be interviewed. They said he had no prior criminal record.
They did not reveal the suspect’s citizenship or immigration status, nor how he came to Germany.
The group Pax Europa describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam.”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called Islamist extremism a ‘great danger’.
“I would like to thank the police officers who immediately intervened and the doctors and paramedics who are fighting for the lives of the victims of this terrible crime,” the minister said.