AfD leader Tino Chrupalla announced in his first public appearance following hospital treatment for an incident at an election campaign event in Ingolstadt that he intended to present further medical results. The pathological examination confirmed a puncture site, Chrupalla said on Tuesday – and “that there was an incident, or rather, that there was an attack on me”. The AfD leader wants to present the results on Wednesday at 11 am.
Chrupalla called it a “scandal” that he discovered blood values in the daily news that he himself was not aware of. The Ingolstadt Public Prosecutor’s Office was therefore “warned”. The Ingolstadt Public Prosecutor’s Office declared twice last week that there was no evidence of an incident. Chrupalla himself said he didn’t notice anything. Forensic examination of his blood samples initially revealed no special findings, as the DPA learned from investigators.
Chrupalla was treated in Ingolstadt on Wednesday last week, ahead of a planned speech, and taken to hospital, where he was monitored in the intensive care unit for one night due to physical problems. What exactly happened is still unclear. According to the doctor’s letter, the AfD leader was stabbed in the arm with a needle. There is speculation that he was injected with a previously unknown substance by an unknown person. Several people allegedly took selfies with Chrupalla at the appointment and, according to police, there was “slight physical contact”.
Chrupalla and Alice Weidel had already been confirmed as the main duo of the AfD parliamentary group. The parliamentary group elected both as co-presidents in the regular council elections in Berlin with 44 yes votes, 22 of the deputies voted against the leadership duo and 6 abstained, as announced by a spokesperson. Therefore, there were no opposing candidates. Sebastian Münzenmaier and Beatrix von Storch were confirmed as deputies.
The group almost decided to create a single leader in the future. A motion to this effect put forward by defense policy spokesman and former Bundeswehr officer Rüdiger Lucassen narrowly missed out on a majority: 37 deputies voted against and 35 in favor.
Weidel has been at the head of the parliamentary group since the AfD entered the Bundestag in 2017, initially as co-chair alongside Alexander Gauland, and since 2021 has led the parliamentary group together with Tino Chrupalla. Two years ago, 50 deputies voted in favor of the duo and 25 against.