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German politician Sahra Wagenknecht narrowly escapes paint attack, man arrested

Broadcast United News Desk
German politician Sahra Wagenknecht narrowly escapes paint attack, man arrested

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Wagenknecht was largely able to avoid paint.© AFP

Sahra Wagenknecht, a figurehead for her young but popular party, Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, was attacked on Thursday during a campaign event in Thuringia. The perpetrators’ motives for wanting to smear her with paint remain unclear.

Germany’s left-wing party Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht was attacked with red paint on Thursday during a political campaign event in Erfurt, the capital of the eastern German state of Thuringia. It is expected to score high in next Sunday’s parliamentary election.

As she addressed the audience from a podium in Erfurt, a middle-aged man tried to spray paint on her. Aside from a few splatters, Wagenknecht largely avoided the paint. After security successfully subdued the perpetrator, the party leader quickly walked onto the stage and turned to face the audience, who applauded and chanted her name. “It’s clear that some people don’t want us, but this represents us. Don’t be intimidated. We will not be intimidated,” Wagenknecht said.

A police spokesman told German newspaper Bild that the perpetrator had been arrested and was in pretrial detention. “This involves a 50-year-old German,” the spokesman said. His motive is still unclear and under investigation.

© Reuters

Working class

“We will change this country,” she added, as she continued her speech. Wagenknecht, who advocates for stricter immigration policies and an end to military aid to Ukraine, and her party have surged in polls in Thuringia and Saxony. She is not a candidate in the two eastern German states because she lives in the western state of Saarland, but she is popular there.

She entered politics in communist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall and later became co-chair of the German Left Party. According to Wagenknecht, because left-wing parties had lost touch with the working class and listened too much to the opinions of urban residents, she closed the door and founded her own BSW in January. With its combination of social conservatism and left-wing economic positions, one of the party’s targets is disaffected former East Germans who feel alienated by a changing Germany.

© Reuters

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