Chancellor Olaf Solz said he was shocked by the death of police officer Reuven L., who was attacked with a knife by Suleiman A. in a central square in Mannheim on Friday.

“I am deeply shocked and shocked that the brave police officer succumbed to his serious injuries following the horrific attack in Mannheim. His dedication to the safety of us all deserves the highest recognition. In these bitter hours my thoughts are with his family and all who are grieving,” Mr. Soltz wrote in X.

The death of 29-year-old Reuven L. has caused grief and anger among the police. The head of the Baden-Württemberg Police Union Ralf Kusterer stressed that the violence police officers face every day is “relentlessly brutal, inhumane and often fatal”. “Campaigns against hate and incitement to violence often don’t even touch on the problems that police officers face on a daily basis. “Discussions about democracy and freedom of expression do not reach irresponsible actors, but neither do they reach religious fanatics, to whom the world of our own ideas seems completely alien and absurd,” said Mr. Kusterer.

Sulaiman A. had managed to hit the policeman who tried to immobilize him multiple times, injuring him in the back and neck. The attacker had previously injured the politician and well-known critic of Islam Michael Sturchenberger in the face, during an event of the “Pax Europa” Movement in the central square of Mannheim. The politician underwent surgery and is recovering normally. The young Afghan, who has been living in Germany since 2014 and was not known to the authorities until now, was only stopped when one of the remaining policemen shot him and wounded him in the leg. He is also hospitalized, while an arrest warrant has already been issued against him for the attacks.