Pepper-spray attack on Left party office in Oranienburg injures two
Three unidentified men sprayed members of Die Linke's youth wing with pepper spray at the party's Oranienburg office on Sunday, German police said.
Three unidentified men attacked members of the Left party's youth wing with pepper spray at the party's office in Oranienburg, in the German state of Brandenburg, on Sunday afternoon, police said. One person was hospitalised and another received outpatient treatment.
The attack happened shortly after 2pm local time at the office on Bernauer Strasse, a police duty officer said. Four members of the Linksjugend youth group, who meet at the office regularly, were inside when three men approached from outside; one went in and asked whether people could vote for the AfD there, a police spokesperson said, before spraying pepper spray. All three then ran off.
Police have launched a search for the three men and said a political motive is evident, though the investigation into the background is continuing. The Left party's Oberhavel branch said the young members who were attacked described the incident as having happened very quickly.
"We won't be intimidated," the Left party's Oberhavel branch wrote on Instagram after the attack.
It was the second attack on the Oranienburg office in a few weeks, the Brandenburg Left party said. On 19 September, a group it described as young neo-Nazis threatened guests at an afterparty for the Christopher Street Day parade inside the office, banged on its windows, put up far-right stickers and shouted Nazi slogans, according to the party's Oberhavel branch.
Marek Lipp, deputy leader of the Brandenburg Left party, said violence from the far-right political spectrum was increasing, both in Oranienburg and elsewhere in Germany, and called on the state's interior minister, Jan Redmann, to present an action plan against it, rather than ordering permanent flag displays at ministries, as Redmann did from 3 October, German Unity Day.
Redmann's order for continuous flagging at his ministry and other state authorities took effect from 3 October, the Day of German Unity, according to the Left party's statement responding to the pepper-spray attack.
What we know
- Three unidentified men pepper-sprayed members of the Left party's youth wing at its office in Oranienburg on Sunday afternoon, police said.
- One person was hospitalised and another received outpatient treatment, police said.
- One of the men asked before the attack whether people could vote for the AfD at the office, a police spokesperson said.
- Police are searching for three suspects and say a political motive is evident.
- It was the second attack on the office in a few weeks, the Brandenburg Left party said.
Not yet confirmed
- Deputy Left party leader Marek Lipp said he believed the attackers were from the far-right political spectrum; police have not confirmed this.
Why it matters for Europe
The Brandenburg Left party says the Oranienburg office has now been targeted twice in a few weeks, the first time by a group it described as young neo-Nazis who shouted Nazi slogans and left far-right stickers. The party is using the attack to press Brandenburg's interior minister for a dedicated response to far-right violence in the state.
Sources
Reported by 2 reports from 2 independent outlets in 1 countries.
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Questions and answers
- What happened at the Left party office in Oranienburg?
- Three unidentified men sprayed pepper spray at members of the party's youth wing on Sunday afternoon, injuring two people, police said.
- Have the attackers been identified?
- No. Police are searching for three men and say a political motive is evident, though the investigation continues.
- Has the office been attacked before?
- Yes. The Brandenburg Left party said a group of young neo-Nazis targeted the same office on 19 September.
This article was written with AI assistance from 2 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.