Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate Stephan Schwarz was hospitalised after a brutal attack by Antifa militants in the town of Schorndorf over the weekend while campaigning for this year’s regional election.
Schwarz, along with several other AfD activists, manned an information booth in the centre of the town on Saturday when they were approached by a group of around 15 to 20 people carrying hard-left Antifa flags and banners, the city prosecutor said.
Alternative for Germany regional candidate Stephan Schwarz campaigns in Schorndorf. (Photo: Alternative for Germany)
The extremists dragged 36-year-old Stephan Schwarz to the ground and beat him while he was down. As he attempted to call the police, one of the attackers stole his phone, newspaper Rems Zeitung reports.
After the police arrived on the scene, Schwarz was taken to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion. The AfD information booth was also destroyed in the attack.
Police later arrested five people in connection with the incident, three outside the town’s railway station and two others on a pedestrian footbridge. All five are said to be between the ages of 18 and 25 and are currently under investigation by the Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office.
Schorndorf mayor Matthias Klopfer condemned the attack stating, “Violence must never be a means of political debate: I am dismayed and appalled by the violent attack on the AfD candidate for the Landtag, Stephan Schwarz, and the destruction of the AfD’s information stand at today’s Schorndorf weekly market.”
The attack is just the latest on an AfD politician by far-left Antifa militants in recent years and comes two years after the brutal attack on MP Frank Magnitz, an attack that was described by some as an attempted assassination.
Antifa militants later took credit for the attack on the far-left web platform Indymedia, stating, “The anti-fascist spring Bremen announces that we wanted to free the AfD politician F. Magnitz of his fascist ideas on Monday at 18.00 clock local time.”
Last year, German security authorities sounded the alarm over growing levels of violence within Antifa circles, with a report claiming that members may be plotting attacks and assassinations on law enforcement officials and political opponents.