Editor’s note: This article was updated on October 6, 2023.
INGOLSTADT, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — The co-head of the anti-globalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reportedly been assaulted with a syringe and taken to an intensive care unit.
According to multiple media reports, during an AfD campaign event in Ingolstadt on October 4, Tino Chrupalla collapsed and was taken to a hospital.
German journalist Boris Reitschuster, who talked to eyewitnesses and members of the AfD, reported that Chrupalla was assaulted by two men who wanted to take a photo with him. The men allegedly injected an unknown substance with a syringe into the politician’s arm, which caused him to have an anaphylactic shock. Chrupalla was immediately taken to the hospital.
Police temporarily arrested the two suspects and frisked them, but they were ultimately let go, eyewitnesses said.
Austrian publicist and former politician Gerald Grosz, who was invited to speak at the event, told the German newspaper Junge Freiheit that Chrupalla was assaulted by two men and had pointed at them when he suddenly became sick. Grosz also confirmed that a syringe was found at the venue.
Junge Freiheit reported on October 5 that Chrupalla is currently in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Ingolstadt and that his body had indeed been pricked.
A day later, on October 6, Junge Freiheit reportedly obtained documents from the clinic in Ingolstadt that show Chrupalla was diagnosed with a heart disorder after a “needle prick” with an unknown substance.
Serious attacks on AfD politicians in recent weeks
Several AfD politicians have experienced various attacks in recent weeks. According to his own statements, Chrupalla himself has recently been de-banked by a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank.
The other co-head of the AfD, Alice Weidel, was recently evacuated from her home together with her family by police forces due to a serious threat of assault against her. A few weeks ago, another AfD politician, Andreas Jurca, a member of the city council of Augsburg, was beaten and rushed to the hospital after an assault allegedly committed by migrants who recognized the politician.
In August, a man pretended to take a photo with Catholic AfD politician Beatrix von Storch (similar to the Chrupalla assault) and assaulted von Storch by smearing feces on her.
The recent, potentially life-threatening assault on the high-ranking AfD politician Chrupalla comes amid a tense political climate in which leftist politicians are calling for a ban on the AfD as the populist party keeps surging in the polls.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier even appeared to threaten supporters of the AfD in a recent keynote address. Steinmeier said, “No responsible voter can plead for mitigating circumstances when he visibly strengthens political forces that contribute to the brutalization of our society and the erosion of liberal democracy.”
READ: Germany could ban populist political party surging in the polls
The economist and former presidential candidate for the AfD, Max Otte, said that the recent assaults on AfD politicians prove that Germany has become a “totalitarian system.” He wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“Tino #Chrupalla in hospital after an attack, Alice #Weidel in hiding because of death threats, Timm #Kellner convicted of “lèse majesté” (he had called Annalena #Baerbock “stupid”). Anyone who has not yet understood that we live in a totalitarian system will never understand it.”
The Catholic political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek also chimed in on the “assassination attempts on German right wing politicians.”
🇩🇪BREAKING: ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS ON GERMAN RIGHT WING POLITICIANS 🚨
Tino Chrupalla, the co-chairman of ‘Alternative for Germany’ (the only ‘true’ right-wing party in Germany), has been hospitalized after an assassination attempt with a syringe before he was due to speak at an… pic.twitter.com/QQwkVeQFwS
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) October 4, 2023
“All of this is extremely shocking, but unsurprising,” she wrote. “It is the result of the extremely hostile narrative that is created by the media and the establishment surrounding right wing politicians and dissidents.”
“It reminds me of what happened back in 2002 in The Netherlands, when climate activist Volkert van der Graaf shot right wing politician Pim Fortuyn in the head in broad daylight. Van der Graaf – mind you -is already freely walking the streets again.”
“We have to realize how serious the situation is for us on the right in Western Europe. We’re dealing with an enemy that wants to and is prepared to kill us for our political beliefs,” Vlaardingerbroek continued.
“These assassination attempts are a clear declaration of war against the European right. And this is just the beginning,” she added. “These people will use any means possible – including violence and death – in order to silence our voices.”
“We cannot let it happen,” she concluded.