Two campaign workers for the xenophobic Pro Deutschland party threatened and harassed a Lebanese man in the district of Steglitz on Wednesday, then attacked a plain-clothes policeman who tried to intervene.
The campaign workers, aged 42 and 50, were hanging campaign posters showing a mosque with a red line through it and a slogan urging people to support the ideas of Thilo Sarrazin, the former central banker and Berlin finance minister who has notoriously claimed Muslim immigrants are making Germany dumber.
A 32-year-old Lebanese man remonstrated with them over the message and their motives. The 42-year-old campaign worker then grabbed a hammer and threatened to “beat to death” the Lebanese man, police say.
A plain-clothes policeman who saw the confrontation from his car called for backup and then intervened, whereupon the 50-year-old attacked him with pepperspray.