AfD EU MP Arno Bausemer allegedly attacks two 14-year-olds with baseball bat over damaged election poster in Stendal

The incident in Stendal

On Thursday evening, August 13, two 14-year-old boys were observed damaging an AfD election poster in Stendal, a district town in Saxony-Anhalt, according to the state criminal police office (LKA). The LKA confirmed it had taken over the investigation from the local police inspection in Stendal. According to the LKA, a physical altercation followed between the two youths and "a person covered by immunity," during which an "alleged striking tool" was used. One of the boys was lightly injured and received medical treatment.

Research by MDR identified the person as AfD Member of the European Parliament Arno Bausemer, 43. One of the two boys told MDR that Bausemer used a baseball bat to knock his friend off a scooter. The injured boy was treated for a mild concussion, multiple bruises, and injuries to his lip and gums, per MDR. The LKA, citing personality rights, immunity protection, and ongoing investigations, declined to provide further details on the individuals involved.

Bausemer's Facebook account

Bausemer himself addressed the incident on Facebook, posting a photo in which he held one of the youths. He complained that his party's banners had been cut up for the third time and wrote that he and a party colleague had caught the youths in the act.

Caught, arrested, and handed over to the police!

He wrote that he had apprehended one of the perpetrators "after a brief pursuit and resistance" and warned followers not to feel pity for the youths. He did not mention a baseball bat in his post. The local Altmark branch of the Greens replied to his post, stating that according to their information, it was Bausemer who was led away by police in handcuffs, not the youths. Bausemer denied that characterization.

Political context and prior controversies

The incident comes weeks before the Saxony-Anhalt state election on September 6, in which the AfD leads in polls and hopes to install Ulrich Siegmund as the party's first state premier. Bausemer serves as state treasurer of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, having been re-elected to that post in July 2026. He is also listed as vice of the Stendal district association alongside top candidate Siegmund, and sits on both the district council and city council of Stendal.

Bausemer previously drew criticism over allegedly false claims in his CV. He lost his party offices as state treasurer and district board member at the time but received no office ban, per MDR, and was nonetheless elected to the European Parliament. Focus reported that days before the Stendal incident, Bausemer had celebrated vandalism of an FDP campaign poster on Facebook, writing: "Spotted in the Altmark, definitely a real eye-catcher!" and asking followers: "Art or vandalism. What do you say?" Bausemer had been an FDP member himself until he left around the turn of the year 2015/16, ahead of a possible party expulsion, and joined the AfD shortly after.

Legal and political fallout

Because Bausemer sits in the European Parliament, he enjoys parliamentary immunity, which protects him from criminal prosecution unless the parliament votes to lift it. The LKA stated that "following authorization to lift immunity, it would be possible to initiate criminal proceedings against the person involved, who currently possesses immunity." The Greens in Saxony-Anhalt called for personnel consequences, with their lead candidate stating that if the reports are confirmed, the AfD and Bausemer would bear responsibility for "a new escalation." Bausemer himself had not responded to media inquiries about the events in Stendal as of the latest reports.