On Saturday, Germany was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.
Local media identified Talib A, 50, as a psychiatrist and psychotherapy specialist who had lived in Germany for two decades, authorities said. He was arrested after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market packed with holiday shoppers on Friday evening, killing at least five people and injuring nearly 200.
Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to meet a mass violence suspect with this profile.
Talib's X account is filled with tweets and retweets that focus on anti-Islamic themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who have left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.
Get daily national news.
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
He criticized German authorities for failing to do enough to counter the “Islamism of Europe”.
He has also expressed support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Some described Talib as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he has appeared focused on his theory that German authorities are targeting Saudi refugees.
Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this 'business' you'd think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim living in East Germany, Loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance of Islamists – it wasn't really on my radar.
On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Fesser told reporters: “At the moment, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was clearly Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter of further investigation.” And we have to wait.”
Germany-based Atheist Refugee Relief said the alleged assailant was not part of the group and claimed it had made “numerous accusations and claims” against it and former board members, which it said were false. were
“We distance ourselves from this in the strongest possible terms,” the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of Atheist Refugee Relief had resigned in 2019 after “very vile slander and verbal attacks”. Filed a criminal complaint against him.
and copy 2024 Canadian Press