German authorities said they had received information about a suspect in a car attack last year. Christmas market More details emerged about the five people who died in Magdeburg on Sunday.
Authorities have identified. the suspect As a Saudi doctor who came to Germany in 2006 and obtained permanent residency. Police have not publicly named the suspect in line with privacy rules, but some German news outlets identified him as Talib A and said he was a specialist in psychology and psychotherapy.
Officials say he does not fit the usual spectrum of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He described himself as a former Muslim who was strongly critical of Islam and expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in numerous social media posts.
He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him.
Holger Munch, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Saturday that his office had received a tip from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, prompting authorities to initiate “appropriate investigative measures”. had done
“The man also published numerous posts on the Internet. He also contacted various authorities, made insults and threats. However, he was not known to commit acts of violence,” Munch said. said, whose office is the German equivalent of the FBI.
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The warnings, however, proved to be very non-specific, he said.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also told X on Saturday that it had received information about the suspect late last summer.
“This was taken seriously, as were several other points,” the office said. But it also noted that it is not an investigating authority and has forwarded the information to the responsible authorities. He did not give any other details.
The Central Council of Ex-Muslims said in a statement that the suspect had “terrorised” them for years as he expressed shock at the attack.
“He apparently shared the far-right beliefs of the AfD and believed in a massive conspiracy aimed at Islamizing Germany. His delusions went so far that he It is assumed that the organizations that criticize Islamism are also part of the Islamist conspiracy.
Mina Ahdi, the group's chairwoman, said in the same statement: “At first we suspected he might be a shell in the Islamist movement. But now I think he's a psychopath with far-right conspiracy theories.” is
The dead included four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy, police in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt state, said on Sunday.
Officials said that 200 people were injured, of which 41 are in critical condition. He was being treated at several hospitals in Magdeburg, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin and beyond.
The suspect was brought before a judge Saturday evening, who ordered him held behind closed doors on charges of murder and attempted murder. He faces possible indictment.
The horror of yet another act of mass violence in Germany has raised the possibility that migration will remain a key issue as the country moves towards skin. Election on February 23 A fatal knife attack in Solingen in August pushed the issue to the top of the agenda, forcing Chancellor Olaf Schulz's government to tighten border security measures.
Right-wing figures from across Europe have criticized German authorities for allowing high levels of migration in the past and for what they now see as security failures.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, known for years for his strong anti-immigration stance, used the attack in Germany to criticize EU migration policies. It was described as an “act of terrorism”.
At an annual press conference in Budapest on Saturday, Orbán insisted that “there is no doubt that there is a connection between the changed world in Western Europe, migration from there, especially illegal migration and acts of terrorism. There is a connection.”
Orbán vowed to “fight” the EU's migration policies, alleging without evidence that “Brussels wants Hungary to have Magdeburg as well.”
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