"Knife migration"

After the attack: inflammatory posters appear in Solingen

Following the fatal knife attack, Solingen's official nickname as the "City of Blades" is being used for propaganda. State security is now investigating who is behind this.(Bild: APA/dpa/Federico Gambarini)

Just over a week after the fatal knife attack in Solingen, inflammatory posters have appeared in the city center. A manipulated version of Solingen's town sign is titled "Klingenstadt Solingen Zentrum der Messermigration" (Solingen, city of blades, center of knife migration). 

As confirmed by the Wuppertal police headquarters, the state security service is investigating whether a right-wing extremist group is behind the campaign. The "Solinger Tageblatt" and the news magazine "Spiegel" had initially reported.

Coat of arms used illegally
The signs are framed by martial-looking images of knives and speckled with red paint to indicate bloodstains. The coat of arms of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and official symbols of the German Federal Government and the German Ministry of the Interior are illegally used at the bottom.

Mourning in Solingen after the terrorist attack that left three dead(Bild: AFP/APA/dpa/Thomas Banneyer)

Investigation into damage to property
A police spokeswoman said that investigations were being carried out for this as well as for damage to property and administrative offenses. In the meantime, there are reports "in the mid double-digit range". According to the Solinger Tageblatt newspaper, the eye-catching posters were emblazoned on an electricity box, among other things. In reference to its 600-year-old blade and metalworking tradition, Solingen has been officially known as the "City of Blades" since 2012.

Suspected perpetrator in custody
In the suspected Islamist attack in the city, an attacker killed three people with a knife at a festival the week before last and injured eight others. The suspected perpetrator is 26-year-old Syrian Issa Al H., who is in custody in Düsseldorf.

The German federal prosecutor's office is investigating him on charges including murder and suspected membership of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. The latter had claimed responsibility for the crime and also published a video of a masked man who is said to be the perpetrator. The alleged perpetrator was supposed to have been deported to Bulgaria last year, but this failed.