In this May 6, 2018 photo newly elected Freiburg, southern Germany, mayor Martin Horn holds an ice pack against his face after he was attacked by a man during the election party in Freiburg. (Patrick Seeger/dpa via AP)
May 07, 2018 - 12:16 AM
BERLIN - A man has been arrested after punching the new mayor of Germany's southwestern city of Freiburg as he was celebrating his election win.
The Sunday night attack was the latest on a politician in Germany after the stabbings of a mayoral candidate in Cologne and the mayor of the small western town of Altena in recent years.
Independent candidate Martin Horn, 33, suffered a broken nose, a broken tooth and bruises. Hours earlier he had won a runoff against longtime Green party incumbent Dieter Salomon.
A spokeswoman for Freiburg police says the 54-year-old suspect's motivation isn't known but that he is known to have psychological problems.
Laura Riske told broadcaster n-tv on Monday that "at the moment we are working on the assumption that there was no underlying political motivation."
News from © The Associated Press, 2018