According to Reuters, the incident occurred just hours before international leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, arrived in the city to attend the Munich Security Conference.
German police said a white car approached the police cars escorting the protesting workers before speeding up and crashing into the crowd. A shot was fired at the suspect, but it is unclear whether he was injured or not. The suspect, a 24-year-old man, was arrested shortly thereafter. The motive for the incident is not yet clear.
Bavaria Premier Markus Soeder said: "This could be an attack." Munich prosecutors confirmed the suspect's name is Farhad Noori.
Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said he had a previous conviction for drugs and theft. The suspect's application for asylum has been rejected, but he has not been deported due to concerns about the security situation in Afghanistan.
The incident comes as the German federal election on February 23 is approaching, as immigration and security issues are becoming the focus of debate. Germany has recently seen many violent attacks.
Last December, an attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg killed six people. Last month, a child and an adult were murdered in a knife stabbing incident in Aschaffenburg. These cases are all related to immigrants.
Prime Minister candidate Friedrich Merz affirmed that security is his priority. "We will strictly enforce the law. Everyone needs to feel safe in their country," he wrote on social media X. Mr. Merz also criticized Prime Minister Olaf Scholz for his thin immigration policy.
The right-wing Affordable Care for Germany ( Af AfD), which is currently second in polls, also quickly spoke out about the incident. Co-chairman of the party, Alice Weidel, stressed that the suspect was an Afghanistanan who applied for asylum and called for changes to immigration policies.
German Chancellor Scholz said the suspect would be severely punished and deported from Germany.
At the scene of the incident, many personal belongings such as clothes, handbags, children's carts, shoes and glasses were scattered on the street. Police have set up a witness gathering point at Loewenbraeukeller, one of Munich's oldest breweries.
The witness said they saw a white Mini Cooper squeeze past the police cars before suddenly speeding up and crashing into the crowd. Some of them participated in the strike organized by the Verdi union.
The Bavarian interior minister said the incident was unrelated to the Munich Security Conference on February 14.
