Berlin – The perpetrator probably struck without warning: Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs and SPD leader Franziska Giffey was attacked and slightly injured during a business appointment. According to police and prosecutors, a possibly mentally ill man attacked the politician from behind in a library with a bag of unknown contents, hitting her in the head and neck. Giffey then went to a hospital for outpatient treatment; the attacker was initially able to escape.
Less than 24 hours later, police arrested a 74-year-old as the suspected perpetrator on Wednesday. The investigating authorities said there were “evidences of mental illness” in the man. He was already known to the police because of his findings in the area of hate crime. Investigations into his motive were ongoing. His apartment was searched.
The man was due to be brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday. Because of his possible illness, the public prosecutor wanted to have him placed in a psychiatric hospital.
Horror at attack
The attack caused horror in politics just a few days after the brutal attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke in Dresden. Giffey was a nationally known politician who was the district mayor of Neukölln, the Federal Minister for Family Affairs and the governing mayor of Berlin from 2021 to 2023. “Anyone who attacks politicians is attacking our democracy,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU). “We will not accept that.” The Senate will discuss the consequences.
Giffey speaks of “shock paralysis”
Giffey wrote about the attack on social media that she had spoken to the director there on Tuesday afternoon during a visit to the library in the Alt-Rudow district in the south of Berlin. “While I was concentrating on this conversation, I suddenly felt a hard blow to my head and neck from behind. A man attacked me with a bag filled with hard contents.” After the first shock, she could say: “I’m fine.”
On the sidelines of an appointment on Wednesday, she told journalists that the attack had taken place in a matter of seconds. “It was like a state of shock,” said Giffey. “Because no one expected it and everyone had a moment where they didn’t really know, what do you do now? And the perpetrator also used this moment to leave the house.”
Giffey complains about “fair game culture”
Giffey has her constituency for the state parliament in Rudow and was a member of the library, which she says she has supported for years. According to her, the perpetrator also said something. She didn’t say what exactly – the police had asked for it for tactical reasons.
“I would never have thought it possible that I would be attacked there,” wrote Giffey on social media. She will continue her work undeterred. “Nevertheless, I am concerned and shocked by the increasing “fair game culture” with which people who are politically active and committed in our country are increasingly exposed to supposedly justified and tolerable attacks.” These attacks cannot be justified. “They are a border crossing that we as a society must resolutely oppose.”
Politician is doing appointments again
The police did not report the incident, which occurred on Tuesday around 4:15 p.m., until Wednesday night. Before this announcement, but about four hours after the attack, Giffey, as SPD state chairwoman, took part in an ongoing member survey on the new party leadership in the Willy Brandt House. She said some closing words around 9:15 p.m. but did not mention the attack on her. Rather, Giffey appeared smiling and apparently in a good mood during the speech, and even made a joke.
Even when presenting a campaign for more solar systems on Wednesday, Giffey appeared to be outwardly unimpressed by the events of the previous day. When she described the crime afterwards, however, she appeared serious and thoughtful.
Senator for Economic Affairs usually without bodyguards
As an economics senator or SPD leader, Giffey usually travels without bodyguards from the State Criminal Police Office – so-called bodyguards. Normally in Berlin only the Governing Mayor and Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) are permanently guarded. On Wednesday, however, Giffey had bodyguards at her side.
Numerous politicians from various parties condemned the attack and sided with Giffey. The police union (GdP) complained that attacks on elected officials have increased in recent years. Hate comments and verbal violence create a breeding ground for physical violence on social media channels, explained GdP regional leader Stephan Weh. “Instead of exchanging opinions and facing arguments, today people are rushing and hitting.”
On Tuesday, the German interior ministers spoke out in a special meeting for better protection for politically active people and also for a tightening of criminal law. The background was recent attacks on politicians and volunteers during the election campaign for the European elections on June 9th.
New attack in Dresden
Last Friday, the SPD politician Ecke was beaten up by four young men in Dresden. The Saxony State Criminal Police Office attributes at least one suspected perpetrator to the right-wing radical spectrum. The next attack followed in Dresden on Tuesday evening: a 47-year-old Green politician was attacked by two people while hanging up election posters.