ExtremismSeveral German pro-immigration politicians receive death threats

As the investigation of the killing of pro-immigration politician Walter Lübcke intensifies, Cologne’s mayor and several other German politicians who support generous refugee admission policies have had their lives threatened. Police say the threats likely also stem from right-wing extremists.

Police on Wednesday confirmed that a death threat was sent to Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, just weeks after a pro-immigration German politician was murdered in what authorities believe was a “right-wing extremist” attack.

Police in Cologne told the newspaper Bild that the threatening note is believed to have been sent by someone active in the right-wing extremist scene.

It is not yet clear whether the threats are connected to the shooting of Kassel regional president Walter Lübcke, who was killed in early June in an execution-style assassination.

DW reports that while campaigning in 2015, Reker was stabbed by a right-wing extremist wielding a hunting knife, suffering serious injuries. The attacker said he targeted Reker because of her pro-refugee positionsstance.

Several other pro-immigration politicians have recently received death threats, and the investigation is now being handled by federal investigators in Berlin.

Public broadcaster WDR reported that one of the other politicians targeted was Andreas Hollstein, the mayor of the western town of Altena.

As was the case with Reker, Hollstein was stabbed in 2017 by a man who shouted anti-migrant remarks before slashing the politician’s neck with a knife in a kebab shop.

German commentators note that the recent killing of Lübcke, who was known for his support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies, has raised worried in Germany about a resurgent right-wing extremism. A extreme-right sympathizer is now held as suspect over the killing.