Summary
A car ploughed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing at least two people, including a child, and injuring 68 others, 15 critically, in what authorities are treating as a terror attack.
The suspect, identified as Taleb A., a Saudi Arabian psychiatrist living in Germany since 2006, was arrested at the scene. He allegedly drove a rented BMW through the crowded market, targeting families and children.
The attack raised concerns about security at Christmas markets despite preventive measures like bollards. German and French leaders expressed shock and condolences.
This incident follows heightened vigilance since a 2016 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 13 people.
Since the article does not mention it at all, the person in question was following and sharing racist rhetoric online - posts from AfD and Elon Musk, for example. He feared an “Islamization” of Germany and seemed to be very angry about it.
It is an important observation to report on, especially because people would assume him to be a racial stereotype that he is not. It is also responsible to include the details given that so much about him has already been shared online.
Source: Nach Recherchen von RTL/ntv äußert sich der Tatverdächtige in Sozialen Medien eindeutig antimuslimisch. Zuletzt klingen seine Postings, von denen er zahlreiche jeden Tag absetzt, immer wütender. Er befürchtet eine Islamisierung Deutschlands und teilt unter anderem Inhalte von rechtsideologischen Accounts – darunter AfD-Chefin Alice Weidel und X-Besitzer Elon Musk.
He was also a Zionist. His Twitter account was saying how lucky some Syrians were to now be part of Israel.
A lot of commenters are going to be really embarrassed after what they wrote.
Or, well, they should be, if they have any dignity or decency.
Or ever even hear the truth.
Well, I did reply to their comments.
It does:
You’re right, but being afraid of radicalization is not the same as being xenophobic/racist. The fact that this guy supported the AfD is a key piece of information in my opinion.
In the CBC news alert they only mentioned he was from saudi arabia
Hypothesis (shooting from the hip here, apologies if I miss by a kilometer):
Additional speculation: his former home country (Saudi Arabia) - known for sending teams of assassins with bone saws to kill dissidents in embassies when they apply for a passport - warns about the man, but nobody takes Saudi Arabia’s warnings seriously because they’re a tyranny that kills people. The warning gets thrown away along with loads of false warnings by Saudi Arabia.
As for news, here’s another primary source:
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/magdeburg-news-polizei-geht-von-einzeltaeter-aus-hinweise-auf-zweites-auto-nicht-bestaetigt-a-16214d4b-1014-4648-b32a-82d11b748364
…but the link noted as “here” is unfortunately paywalled, so that’s where my data ends.
He was also a psychotherapist
I assumed he was an incel.