Law enforcement intelligence regarding a possible assassination plot against Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk prompted an urgent gathering of Poland's security officials, AP reported. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz was also targeted in the threat, which led to crisis talks at the Counter-Terrorism Center, Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Galecka announced.
The plot emerged as Poland grappled with a shocking series of school stabbings that left one dead and several injured, Reuters noted. A 19-year-old wounded nine people on Wednesday, followed by a 15-year-old who fatally stabbed a caretaker while filming the attack on Thursday. On Saturday, a woman injured three people in Warsaw. Police detained 117 suspects and inspected 64,000 schools nationwide.
Ruling out coordinated terrorism, Tusk described the early incidents as "spontaneous" and heavily "inspired by online activity" among teens. He called the broader trend "spontaneous actions" linked directly to the digital "glorification of violence" seen recently. "We are not dealing with any group organized on a big scale," Tusk stated at the meeting, dpa reported.
"In the past years and months, we have noted – globally and in Poland – a rise in the fascination with violence," Tusk observed. He pointed to "nihilistic violence" as the core issue, though acknowledging "some of the people detained are active in the ultraright environment."
Noting an increase in web searches for "mass killers who have become idols online," Tusk blamed a "civilizational phenomenon" of digital brutality. He pledged ongoing school security sweeps so vulnerable youths do not "get stupid and unsafe thoughts" about committing further violence.
