magdeburg, germany
CNN
—
The Glühwein stall, decorated with Christmas lights and tinsel, is empty and shuttered.
German police stood guard on a cordoned-off street outside a market in central Magdeburg, and a forensic team carefully examined the crime scene before wiping blood stains from the road, one officer told CNN. There is.
A horrific car crash at a Christmas market left at least five people dead, including a nine-year-old boy, and left the German city in shock on Friday night.
At the entrance to the market, grieving locals lit candles and laid flowers to pay their respects, many feeling a deep sense of loss.
“I saw a lot of terrible situations, a lot of people in search. There were a lot of tears, confusion and a state of extreme shock,” he said. said Corinna Pagels, a psychological counselor.
Amid grief, the attack has revived memories in Germany of a similar attack in 2016 in which more than a dozen people were mowed down and killed at a Christmas market in Berlin.
A 24-year-old Tunisian man, who was unable to obtain asylum in Germany at the time and had pledged allegiance to the radical jihadists of ISIS, plowed his truck into a crowd of revelers, sparking anger and suspicion across Germany over recent incidents. Instigated. An influx of Muslim immigrants, mainly from the Middle East.
The suspect this time is completely different.
Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, 50, is originally from Saudi Arabia but has been living in Germany since 2006, working as a consultant psychiatrist at a local clinic.
He is also avowedly atheist and anti-Muslim, once describing himself as “the most aggressive critic of Islam in history” in a 2019 newspaper interview.
Abdulmohsen expressed support for Germany’s anti-immigration party AfD on social media and reiterated his dissatisfaction with the German government’s soft policies on immigration and overly friendly relations between Berlin and the Saudi regime. .
Recent messages included threats. Abdul Mohsen said in August that if Germany “wanted to kill us, we would slaughter ourselves with pride, or die or go to prison.”
His feed was constantly filled with anger against Islam. Abdulmohsen claimed that Germany wanted to “Islamize Europe”.
But for many Germans living in Magdeburg, the fact that this Christmas market attacker does not fit the expected security profile is of no concern at all.
“Our politicians are responsible for this,” local woman Barbara told CNN as she paid her respects outside the police cordon.
“I think people who do this should be wiped out,” she added.
“It’s time to close the border,” said Tom, a local man standing nearby.
German politicians at the other end of the political spectrum have launched a car ramming incident to attack the coalition government.
Both parties share an opposition to mass immigration, with far-left party leader Sarah Wagenknecht asking Interior Minister Nancy Feser: “Why were so many hints and warnings ignored in advance?”
Meanwhile, the far-right party AfD, which has made significant strides this year, organized a rally in Magdeburg on Monday night that was attended by around 3,500 people, according to local police.
According to local residents, AfD leader Alice Weidell told the rally: “Those who despise and even kill citizens of countries that have granted them asylum, those who despise everything we stand for and love, belong to us. Not,” he said. Broadcasting station MDR. During her speech, the crowd was chanting “deport!”
“We want this country to finally change, and we hope that we never again have to grieve with the mothers who lost their sons in such a senseless and brutal way,” Weidell said. added.
Despite being blamed on an avowed Islamophobe, the attack appears to have fueled an angry anti-immigration mood in Germany.
The AfD parliamentary leader also called on X to convene a special session to discuss security issues in the wake of the attack.
Elsewhere in Magdeburg city center, thousands of people gathered on Monday night at an event to counter the AfD rally, which was held under the motto: “We want to mourn/Don’t give hatred a chance!” Ta.
“Everyone is dealing with this situation in their own way, some are sad, some are angry. Everyone has the right to express their opinion and this opinion It should not be used for any political purpose here,” local man Andreas Bose told Reuters early on Monday.
