The public prosecutor's office in Mannheim and the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) are investigating how a 47-year-old man died in connection with a police operation.

The man was checked by two police officers in downtown Mannheim on Monday afternoon.

It was a patient from the Mannheim Central Institute for Mental Health (ZI).

A doctor from the institute is said to have asked the police for help beforehand.

Rudiger Soldt

Political correspondent in Baden-Württemberg.

  • Follow I follow

When the man was checked, there was a scuffle between two police officers and the man.

Passers-by filmed the operation.

The FAZ has a video.

It shows two policemen throwing the man to the ground, one policeman punches the man and hits his neck and head with his fist.

Afterwards, he bled profusely from his nose.

The press release from the State Criminal Police Office states that the police officers should have used "direct coercion".

A short time later, the man had to be resuscitated, he died after being admitted to the university hospital.

His body was confiscated for further investigation.

A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office told the FAZ: "We now have to get an idea of ​​the entire course of the operation." It would be helpful if observers made all the photos and videos available to the investigators.

As a reaction to the incident, there was a demonstration against racism in the ranks of the police in downtown Mannheim on Monday evening.

According to a police spokesman, around 100 to 150 people gathered in the market square in the evening.

Demonstrators accused the police of racially motivated violence on signs.

According to the police, the man did not have a Turkish migration background.

The public prosecutor's office did not name his nationality.

A heated discussion about the case broke out on social media.

Left groups demanded clarification.

Many citizens with Turkish roots live and work in Quartier G2.

The Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) said he could not yet assess the case, the government had initiated a number of projects against hate and hate speech and the Internet.