The online rumour mill has been given yet more fodder following the death of a seventh AfD North Rhine-Westphalia election candidate.
Hans-Joachim Kind, a candidate in Kremenholl, has died at the age of 80 of natural causes after a long illness, Welt reported on Wednesday afternoon.
Police say there is no indication of foul play surrounding any of the now seven deaths. The deputy state chairman of the AfD in North Rhine-Westphalia, Kay Gottschalk, also said on Tuesday there was “no indication” of “murder or anything similar” and that some of the deceased had “pre-existing medical conditions.”
But following the fourth reported death, party co-chair Alice Weidel shared a social media post saying the cluster was “statistically almost impossible.”
Gottschalk did add that “we will, of course, investigate these cases with the necessary sensitivity and care.”
Despite this caution, Politico journalist Pauline von Pezold accused the AfD of “causing its voters to lose faith in our democracy” over the growing list of deaths.
Rod Dreher wrote in these pages on Tuesday: “It must be hoped that the unfortunate and statistically unlikely deaths of four politicians from a party the German government is considering outlawing were nothing more than a fluke.”
Hellbound and Down 