Heinrich Koch, a German politician from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was injured in a knife attack in Mannheim on Tuesday. Koch is running for the Mannheim municipal council election on June 9.

According to a statement by the Mannheim police, Koch was pursuing the suspect for damaging and stealing several election posters when he was attacked with a cutter knife. Police officers arrested the suspect and he was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric institution. The police indicated that there were no signs the suspect knew that Koch was an AfD politician.

On Wednesday, an investigating judge issued a detention order for the suspect, who faces charges of attempted manslaughter, detaining him in a psychiatric hospital.

Initially, the AfD characterised the attack as the work of a left-wing extremist. Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD party, shared a video of the incident on X (formerly Twitter). The German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, condemned the attack, stating that there is never a justification for violence.

Koch has since been released from the hospital.

The incident comes after a series of recent attacks on German politicians and campaign workers ahead of the June 9 elections. Political tensions have been heightened following a knife attack at an anti-Islam event by an Afghan national, which has fueled increased anti-immigration and anti-Islam narratives.