The Leipzig police taskforce on far-left extremism (Soko Linx) has opened an attempted homicide investigation after Antifa black bloc members brutally attacked anti-lockdown protesters.
The investigation comes after a group of 15 to 20 black bloc extremists surrounded several Querdenker (“lateral thinker”) anti-lockdown protesters on Saturday at just after 6 pm during an unauthorised march.
The far-leftists confronted two anti-lockdown protesters, aged 25 and 30, outside of a snack stand where the group was eating and viciously attacked them, tabloid Bild reports.
According to the newspaper, the extremists forced the two men to the ground and stomped and kicked their heads.
A police spokesman confirmed the nature of the assaults, saying: “One of the attackers, in particular, allegedly kicked one of the two people lying on the ground several times in the head.”
Police then rushed to help the two men, with one officer firing a warning shot to make the mob flee the area.
“This person was apparently in a helpless situation, so a rushing police officer decided to fire a warning shot to stop the attack immediately,” the police spokesman said.
The force is also appealing for witnesses to come forward and identify the attackers.
Formed last year, the Soko Linx taskforce was created to deal with the high level of Antifa violence and criminality in Leipzig. The unit has previously offered cash rewards to those who identify Antifa militants suspected of crimes in the city.
Earlier this year, the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) warned that far-left violence was on the rise and that members of groups were becoming more extreme.
A leaked BfV reported claimed that there could be far-left political assassinations in the future, stating: “Even the step of deliberately killing a political opponent no longer seems completely unthinkable.”
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