(Reuters) – Anti-immigrant groups in Germany seized on Wednesday’s deadly attack in Paris, with leaders of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and PEGIDA saying it showed the threat of Islamist violence.
Twelve people were killed when gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam.
“This bloodbath proves wrong those who laughed or ignored the fears of so many people about a looming danger of Islamism,” said Alexander Gauland, a regional AfD leader. “This gives new clout to PEGIDA demands.”
PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, itself reacted strongly to the Paris attack.
“The Islamists, against whom PEGIDA has been warning over the last 12 weeks, showed in France today that they are not capable of (practicing) democracy but instead see violence and death as the solution,” PEGIDA wrote on its Facebook page.
“Our political leaders want us to believe the opposite is true,” the group added.
“Does a tragedy like this first have to happen in Germany?”
A top ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned as “sleaze” the eurosceptic AfD’s comments.