Polish Mayor Pawel Adamovicz, was stabbed on stage during a charity fundraiser for children’s hospitals, and has died.

The mayor of Gdansk, Pawel Adamovicz, was stabbed Monday while participating in a charity event attended by thousands.

Adamovicz died in the hosptial from the abdominal injuries he sustained after several hours of surgery trying save him failed. The assailant stabbed the mayor, seriously wounding him in the heart, diaphragm, and other major organs said the surgeon who who treated him.

Pawel Adamowicz has become a well-known political figure in Poland after being the mayor of the city of Gdansk for over 20 years and supporting left-wing causes.

The mayor is a former member of the Civic Platform, a liberal pro-European party, which governed Poland between 2007 and 2015. However, he left the party to run for local elections as an independent.

According to Polish media reports, the alleged assailant has been identified as Stefan W, a 27-year-old local from Gdansk.

There is video footage of the assailant taking the stage and addressing the crowd through a microphone: “Hello! Hello! My name is Stefan. I sat innocent in prison, I sat innocently in prison. Civic Platform tortured me, and that’s why Adamowicz is dead.”

Mayor Adamowicz is known for being a staunch supporter of minority rights, principally the LGBT community as well as migrants and refugees, “Gdansk is a port and must always be a refuge from the sea,” stated Adamowicz.

There has been a strong anti-migrant sentiment prevalent in Polish society and politics in recent years.

The ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) have been active in thwarting political integration and federalism in the EU. The party also tacitly encourages groups with roots in the fascist and anti-Semitic movements. The PiS also refuses to allow immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa into the country.