Knife attack in Aschaffenburg: Fear and political debate arise!

in Aschaffenburg there was a tragic incident in which a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man were killed by a knife attack on Wednesday. The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan, was in psychiatric treatment. In addition, the attack violated three other people. These events have sparked a debate about dealing with mentally ill-credits, such as daily show.de reported.

Borwin Bandelow, psychiatrist and anxiety researcher from Göttingen, commented on the possible political consequences of the knife attack. He predicted that such incidents could shape the political discussion for about four weeks. According to Bandelow, these attacks can significantly impair people's security and further increase fears, especially to migrants, which could possibly benefit from populist parties. Bandelow, however, emphasized that there was no way to completely prevent mentally ill people and their deeds.

political reactions and demands

The knife attack has triggered a variety of political reactions. Thomas Mohr, deputy chairman of the police union in Baden-Württemberg, warned of the stigmatization of mentally ill perpetrators and called for improved cooperation between the police, health authorities and psychiatric institutions. Ralf Kusterer from the German Police Union reported an increasing number of perpetrators who are incapable of guilt due to mental illnesses.

Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) demanded more support for the security authorities from the Federal Government. The SPD politician Sascha Binder criticized that the suspect should not have been in Germany, while the Greens demanded careful dealing with the circumstances of the incident. In particular, the question of deportation is discussed; Of 7,600 deportation attempts in Baden-Württemberg in 2024, only 2,900 were successful.

In view of the increasing numbers of violent incidents by mentally ill migrants, it becomes clear that the discussion about dealing with mentally ill -sick criminals in Germany is becoming more important. Catalin Dohrmann, psychologist, said that the willingness to violence in refugees often results from severe traumatizations.