A Libyan man in a wheelchair was attacked by a suspected right-wing extremist in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, a police spokesman said yesterday. The 22-year-old suspect pushed the 31-year-old Libyan out of his wheelchair and then attacked him, as well as hurling racial insults at him, according to the initial investigation. The suspect, who was detained near the site of the attack, is known to police for crimes with right-wing motives. He is now under investigation for causing grievous bodily harm and verbal abuse. The victim sustained minor injuries and received outpatient treatment at a hospital after the attack, which happened at the weekend. He told the Bild newspaper that several men had approached him and called him a "f*** Arab." One of the men then punched him in the face "repeatedly, until I fell out of the wheelchair," the victim said. "When I was lying on the ground, he continued kicking me."

Chemnitz was in the international spotlight last year for anti-immigrant protests and racist attacks. Far-right groups made specific plans to violently chase down migrants and foreign-looking individuals, according to a report investigating right-wing violence during the August 2018 demonstrations in the eastern city. According to evaluations made by Saxony Criminal Police Office, officials found chat messages exchanged about the plot between known members of Chemnitz's extreme-right scene between Aug. 26 and Aug. 28.

In June, German prosecutors charged members of the right-wing organization Revolution Chemnitz with forming a terrorist group. A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe confirmed that the members had been charged with forming the group in September in order to plan and carry out terrorist attacks. According to local media reports, members of the group had planned to orchestrate a civil war-like rebellion in Berlin on Oct. 2, 2018.