Members of the youth branch of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), have recently begun conducting boxing lessons for members as the party has suffered from violent attacks by far-left extremists, including members of Antifa, in recent years.
The Junge Alternative in Schleswig-Holstein advertised their new boxing club on Instagram, stating,
Attacks on German citizens in public spaces, but also on political activists, by left-wing extremist groups are becoming increasingly frequent. We took the opportunity not to bow to this and to be able to defend ourselves steadfastly in an emergency and met last week in South Holstein for boxing training.
According to a report from the German tabloid Bild, one of the leaders of Junge Alternative, Leif Kulina was viciously attacked by a gang of around 30 far-left extremists in May of 2020. The far-left mob were said to have been armed with bike locks and glass bottles during the attack.
“In 2020 and 2021, for example, there were brutal attacks on our members on and on the fringes of Coronavirus demonstrations,” the Junge Alternative told the newspaper and added, “Therefore, it is a necessity to train one’s defence skills in order not to become a victim of left-wing extremist attacks.”
“It is important to us not to leave our members alone and to provide them with techniques that enable them to protect themselves and their companions in an emergency,” they said.
Members of the AfD have seen many attacks by far-left extremists in recent years, but one of the most brutal was directed at MP Frank Magnitz in January 2019.
Magnitz was set upon by masked individuals after leaving a theatre in Bremen and repeatedly hit in the skull with a blunt object so severely that some referred to the attack as an assassination attempt.
Just days after the brutal attack, far-left extremists appeared to take credit for it on the web platform Indymedia, which has long been used by far-left extremists to take credit for violent actions. The post was later deleted but an archive was kept before it was taken down.
Just a month after the attack on Magnitz, far-left extremists posted an “assassination guide” on Indymedia that called for the killing of several AfD MPs, including Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel, who were the co-chairs of the party at the time.
The guide also detailed advice to would-be assassins on how to carry out successful killings, giving advice on what kind of firearms to procure as well as stating that women would be ideal assassins as they would be less likely to be suspected by security personnel.
The threat of far-left violence remains high for AfD members and other conservatives in Germany as Antifa published the names and addresses of AfD candidates this week ahead of the regional elections in Hesse.
“Anyone who wants to exclude, imprison or dispose of others because of a racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and anti-queer worldview should not complain about resistance and exclusion,” Antifa said in a statement and called on supporters to “make life hell” for AfD members.
Antifa has used similar tactics in previous years, including in 2021 when the group called for the murder of 53 members of the AfD and published their home addresses and called for supporters to use explosives.
While the calls for attacks are seemingly unorganised, there have been organised attacks by Antifa-affiliate groups, such as the infamous Hammerbande or Hammer Gang, who are known for targeting individuals and viciously beating them in the head with hammers, leaving their victims for dead.
The leader of the Hammer Gang, Lina Engel, was found guilty, along with three other members of the criminal organisation, for several violent assaults in May of this year. Engel was sentenced to five months and three years in prison but prosecutors have appealed the sentence and demanded she serve eight years instead.
Following the announcement of her sentence, around 1,500 far-left Antifa extremists took to the streets of Leipzig to riot, injuring 50 police officers, three of which were so badly hurt they were considered not fit for duty.
