dpa
Essen, Germany
A delegate with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) bit a protester during a scuffle on Saturday outside the AfD’s party congress in the western city of Essen.
Stefan Hrdy, 67, contended in an interview with dpa on Sunday that he bit the person in self-defence amid an “escalating situation” with anti-AfD demonstrators trying to blockade the Grughalle arena where the congress is being held.
A spokeswoman for the Essen police explained that they learned about the biting incident from media reporting but could not immediately say whether the person bit by Hrdy had filed a complaint.
Hrdy told dpa that he was driving toward the venue when he came across a protest blockade. When he got out of his car to ask a police officer to clear the way for him, he said he was suddenly attacked.
“Then I got kicked in the right calf, fell down and two or three fell on top of me, and then a kick came from the right, I was able to dodge a little, then I clutched the leg and bit down so that I didn’t get kicked again,” Hrdy said.
At that moment, according to Hrdy, police officers intervened and he was able to get up and drive on.
The Bild newspaper published a video of the incident, which shows Hrdy walking towards a police cordon. Several demonstrators stand in his way, a commotion breaks out and Hrdy falls to the ground.
Parts of the video do not match Hrdy’s account: It merely shows a demonstrator lying on top of him with his leg and Hrdy biting his calf. The kick to his calf that Hrdy described also cannot be seen in the video, although the view of the scuffle is partly obscured.
