A 36-year-old SPD city council candidate was attacked and insulted while distributing election advertising in Gera on Sunday. The police said on Sunday that the suspected perpetrator was a 56-year-old.

The local politician was just throwing notes into mailboxes when a resident pushed him in the chest and insulted him. The candidate was not injured, it was said.

Criminal proceedings were initiated against the alleged attacker for insult and bodily harm. There was initially no information about the motives for the attack.

Local elections will take place in Thuringia on May 26th, and new municipal and city councils will be elected everywhere. The district administrators will also be re-elected in 13 of 17 districts, as well as the mayors in all five independent cities. Mayoral and local mayoral elections are also coming up in many places.