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Agence France-Presse

At least three prominent pro-migrant mayors in Germany have received death threats, days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the assassination-style gun murder of a local politician.
“Death threats against local politicians are disgraceful attempts at intimidation,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas after the latest reports.
“The more disgusting the agitation, the more resolutely we must support all those who are engaged in communities,” he told national news agency DPA.
Germany has been shocked by news that the top suspect in the June 2 shooting of Kassel city local politician Walter Luebcke is an alleged neo-Nazi, believed to have been angered by an influx of refugees and migrants.
Possible far-right link to German politician’s murder
Now several other local politicians, who have been attacked or targeted in the past for welcoming asylum seekers, report that they have again been threatened.
One of them, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, was stabbed in the neck by a right-wing sympathiser in October 2015 and has been under police protection ever since.
“The mayor has received death threats,” said a Cologne police spokesman.

Another mayor, Andreas Hollstein, of the small town of Altena in North Rhine-Westphalia state, on Tuesday confirmed to German news agency DPA that he had again received death threats.
He was slashed with a knife in 2017 after accepting a national award from Chancellor Angela Merkel for Altena’s work with refugees.
His attacker had criticised Hollstein for taking in refugees, it emerged during the trial.
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Holger Kelch, the mayor of Cottbus, said he had received 500 pieces of hate mail and three death threats since 2017 when he called for calm in the city after it emerged the killer of a German pensioner came from Syria.
“Along with my family, I am under police protection the whole day,” Kelch, a member of Merkel’s CDU party, told Berlin newspaper BZ. “Since then, I think about my security all the time and sometimes I am afraid.”
News of the death threats comes in the wake of the Luebcke case, which prosecutors are treating as a political murder.
The 65-year-old was found on the terrace of his house in Wolfhagen near Kassel, having been shot in the head at close range.
A 45-year-old suspect was arrested last weekend, with media reporting he had previously launched a failed pipe bomb attack against a refugee shelter.
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Luebcke was an outspoken defender of Merkel’s decision to welcome refugees and in 2015 drew the wrath of the far right by telling Germans who objected that they could leave the country.
Tributes to Luebcke sparked an avalanche of negative comments and mockery on social networks, many welcoming the murder – a response that was harshly criticised by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Tuesday called the killing an “alarm bell” for Germany and acknowledged that “right-wing extremism is a significant and serious danger for our society”.


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Germany

Pro-migrant German mayors receive death threats, weeks after murder of another politician by suspected far-right extremist

A picture of murdered politician Walter Luebcke stands behind his coffin during the funeral service in Kassel, Germany. Photo: AP

People attend a protest ralley in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 18, 2019 against far right violence. German police are investigating a series of threats sent to officials and institutions days after the arrest of a far-right extremist on suspicion of killing a pro-migrant politician. Slogan reads 'Stop Far Right Violence' (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)

Man arrested in connection with murder of German politician has far-right links

Walter Luebcke was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Photo: AFP

German police officers search neighbouring property around the house of District President of Kassel Walter Luebcke, who was found dead in Wolfhagen-Istha near Kassel, Germany, June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Thousands rally in Germany against nationalism and far-right parties ahead of European vote

People take part in the pro-Europe demonstration “One Europe for all- your voice against nationalism” a week before European elections in Berlin. Photo: AFP

People hold posters reading: 'Elect a Europe for all' and 'Your choice - May 26' as they attend a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, May 19, 2019. People across Europe attend demonstrations under the slogan 'A Europe for All - Your Voice Against Nationalism'. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man with his face painted like a European flag, attends a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, May 19, 2019. People across Europe attend demonstrations under the slogan 'A Europe for All - Your Voice Against Nationalism'. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

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The threats come days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the assassination-style gun murder of a local politician on June 2


The threats come days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the shooting of a local politician that has shocked Germany.


Pro-migrant German mayors receive death threats, weeks after murder of another politician by suspected far-right extremist

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The threats come days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the assassination-style gun murder of a local politician on June 2

The threats come days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the assassination-style gun murder of a local politician on June 2