The public prosecutor’s office has identified Franziska Giffey’s alleged attacker. He is said to have hit Giffey in the head and neck.
A 74-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday as the suspected perpetrator of the attack on Berlin’s Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD). The police and public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that there were “evidences of mental illness” in the man. The 74-year-old is already known to the police and there are findings in the area of hate crime, it said. “However, investigations into the suspect’s motive behind yesterday’s attack are ongoing.”
Video | Giffey: “We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by such attacks”
What: Reuters
Because of the possible mental illness, the public prosecutor’s office is now examining whether to request that the suspect be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The accused should be brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday. The man’s apartment was searched.
Giffey was attacked and injured on Tuesday. Berlin police said on Wednesday night that a man attacked her from behind in a library in the Rudow district with a bag that contained hard contents. Giffey was hit in the head and neck and the suspect then walked away.
Giffey resumes work
The SPD politician briefly went to a hospital for outpatient treatment of headaches and neck pain. According to the information, the Police State Security began investigations in coordination with the public prosecutor’s office. Read more about the incident here.
Giffey returns to work the day after the attack on her. An appointment for the “Solar pays off” campaign will take place with Giffey as planned, her spokesman confirmed to the dpa. The senator wants to present the campaign at 11 a.m. in the Berlin Futurium.
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Police union condemns ‘sneaky attack’
Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the attacks on Giffey and other politicians as “outrageous and cowardly”. “Anyone who gets involved deserves respect,” wrote the SPD politician on Wednesday in a post on Platform X. Violence does not belong in the democratic debate. “The decent and sensible people are clearly against it – and they are the majority!” said Scholz.
Meanwhile, she called for more respect for people who are involved in politics. “We live in a free and democratic country in which everyone is allowed and able to express their opinions freely,” said Giffey on Instagram. “And yet there is a clear limit. And that is violence against people who hold a different view, for whatever reasons, in whatever form.” There is no justification for these attacks. “They are a border crossing that we as a society must resolutely oppose,” wrote Giffey.
The police union GdP condemned the attack on Giffey as a “sneaky attack”. “The attacks on elected officials have increased in recent years, hate comments are made on social media and verbal violence creates a breeding ground for physical violence,” said state leader Stephan Weh in a statement.
