German populist leaders hospitalized after government declares party ‘racist’

Leaders of the Right-leaning populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) are reporting assassination attempts and security threats after the government labeled the party “racist.”

AfD, which has 83 seats in German Parliament and is rising in popularity, opposed COVID-19 mandates and presents a political threat to the ruling Social Democrats. The party also won major gains in Sunday’s state elections in Bavaria and Hesse. 

In August, government leaders called to ban AfD from participating in politics due to “racism” and "extremism” in the party, though supporting evidence was not provided.

Days later AfD candidate Andreas Jurca and his colleague were brutally beaten in an apparently coordinated attack during a campaign event. Jurca was approached by a man who asked him to confirm that he was “Andreas Jurca from the posters.” When Jurca affirmed, the man shook his hand while an accomplice began beating the politician. Someone yelled “damn Nazi” and Jurca was knocked unconscious. He was hospitalized with severe bruises, a broken ankle, and several other injuries. His colleague suffered minor injuries and a torn shirt.

Last weekend AfD Co-Chair Alice Weidel and her family went into hiding due to credible security threats. She did not make her scheduled campaign appearance Tuesday and remains in an undisclosed location.

A day later AfD’s other co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, was rushed to intensive care just before he was scheduled to speak after suffering what an AfD spokesman said was a “violent incident” which involved a “puncture wound.” According to reporter Eva Vlaardingerbroek, Chrupalla was the victim of an assassination attempt with a syringe.

“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,” commented Vlaardingerbroek. “These assassination attempts are a clear declaration of war against the European right. And this is just the beginning.

“These people will use any means possible — including violence and death — in order to silence our voices.”

Last year, the government convinced a German court to allow surveillance of AfD party members, claiming it is a “suspicious” party that “stands for racism.” 

In August German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was among those who called to ban AfD.

“[W]e all have it in our hands to put those who despise our democracy in their place,” Steinmeier said after the country’s domestic spy chief warned about AfD “spreading hate” against minorities.

“We see a considerable number of protagonists in this party that spread hate against all types of minorities here in Germany,” said Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) President Thomas Haldenwang.

A Social Democrats co-leader has said that AfD should be banned from politics if BfV declares the party to be a group of “proven Right-wing extremists.”

Nonprofit organization German Institute for Human Rights claims “the AfD have reached a degree of dangerousness that they can be banned according to the constitution.”

German media are encouraging the possible ban. "The AfD has become more and more radicalized. It’s time to defend democracy with better weapons," wrote Der Spiegel. 

Reports suggest the AfD is racist because Björn Höcke, one of the AfD’s leaders, has used “Hitler-esque language,” referring to a statement he made in 2019: “When the turning point is reached, then we Germans won’t do things by halves, we will dispose of the rubbish heaps of modernity.” Höcke was compared to Hitler after a journalist suggested the remark sounded like a quote from Mein Kampf.

In January, AfD Health Policy Coordinator Martin Sichert brought legal action against a German judge who ordered a Holocaust survivor to be forcibly vaccinated against COVID-19. AfD has been vocally opposed to COVID-19 restrictions, particularly vaccine mandates.

“Nobody should be forced against their will to take part in a medical experiment – of any kind, not even corona gene therapy – especially not vulnerable people undergoing psychiatric treatment,” said Sichert in a statement. “Article 2 of the Basic Law protects the right to physical integrity. This right is taken away from the elderly woman. The fact that Inna Zhvanetskaya is also a Holocaust survivor makes this case even more outrageous.”

The Telegraph acknowledges that “[w]hen the Nazis came to power, they banned all other parties.”