An election candidate in Germany was stabbed in the head and stomach on Tuesday night after confronting a gang of men tearing down election posters. This incident marks the second stabbing of a right-wing individual in Mannheim within four days.

Heinrich Koch, a 62-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD) council election candidate, was attacked in Mannheim. According to German newspaper Die Welt, Koch was cut on the ear and stomach by the assailant and required hospital treatment. Although the injuries are not life-threatening, they did necessitate stitches.

The 25-year-old perpetrator was reportedly part of a group of three who had been stealing election posters in the city. After being chased by Koch, two managed to escape, but one of the gang slashed him with a box-cutter type knife. The attacker fled but was later arrested. The alleged knifeman was sent to a psychiatric hospital due to being “mentally ill.” Die Welt reports that there is no concrete evidence that the attacker knew Koch was a politician, playing down any political motive for the attack.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel condemned the attack as a “horrifying act” and wished her party colleague a swift recovery from both his injuries and the shock of the attack. Party MP Tino Chrupalla stated that AfD members are the most frequent victims of political violence in Germany, but emphasized that such attacks would not deter them from campaigning.

This attack follows another stabbing in Mannheim four days earlier, where an Afghan migrant attacked a political demonstration in a city square. Michael Stuerzenberger, a veteran anti-Mosque and anti-Islamification campaigner, was seriously injured, and a responding police officer was fatally stabbed after mistakenly arresting the wrong person. Police initially hesitated to assign a motive, but later acknowledged that the mass stabbing was likely an act of extremist Islamism. The suspect, who was supposed to have been deported years ago, remains in the hospital after being shot by police.

These incidents have sparked debate just days before the European Parliament elections and German local elections set to take place on Sunday. Footage of the attack on Stuerzenberger, which was inadvertently livestreamed, has circulated widely on social media, intensifying discussions about deportation policies in the final days of the election campaign.