Kraków Shooting: Official Far-Right Attribution Challenged by EU Lawmaker Amid Narrative Disputes

On November 7, 2026, a 24-year-old Polish man named Michał Oksiński drove into Kraków's Main Market Square, opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle and killing six people while injuring 16 others before being wounded by police. He later died in hospital. Authorities also discovered the bodies of his parents and sister at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, bringing the total deaths to nine. Polish officials, including Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, described the attacker as holding "very radical" and "ultranationalistic" views, with "everything indicat[ing] that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies." The incident was opened as a terrorism investigation. Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned it as an act of terror. Mainstream reporting from outlets including BBC, CNN, The Guardian, AP News, and Reuters consistently echoed the far-right motivation based on initial police and ministerial statements. Spanish MEP Hermann Tertsch publicly challenged this narrative, claiming on social media that the killer's Facebook account—allegedly deleted on government orders—featured a rainbow flag, sexually ambiguous imagery, nail painting, cross-dressing references, mockery of Pope John Paul II, and support for open borders, suggesting instead a "woke leftist" profile. Tertsch accused Tusk's government of a cover-up to associate the attack with conservative and patriotic forces opposing the administration. A report in Poland Daily 24 documented Tertsch's statements and the ensuing controversy. No independent verification of the Facebook content has emerged in major outlets, and official investigations continue without public updates contradicting the initial ideological assessment. The event has fueled partisan debates in Poland ahead of political demonstrations, highlighting tensions between government messaging and opposition critiques.