The alleged perpetrator of the Magdeburg Christmas market attack was reportedly an asylum seeker promoted by traditional media such as the BBC.
Update 1700: Prosecutors announced that the suspect was charged with five counts of murder and 200 counts of attempted murder inflicting dangerous bodily harm. They revealed that one of the victims killed was a 9-year-old child and 41 people were seriously injured, so the death toll is likely to rise. Welts report.
Senior prosecutor Horst-Walter Noppens acknowledged that the suspect had acted alone and said of his motive: “According to the current circumstances, it is possible that the background was dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi Arabian refugees in Germany.'' .
The original story continues as follows…
Taleb A has been identified by German media as the main suspect in the incident, in which a rental car crashed into a crowd gathered at a Christmas market, killing multiple people and injuring more than 200.
The Saudi man reportedly fled his homeland and arrived in Germany in 2006, fearing persecution for being an atheist. He was granted asylum in Germany in 2016 and lived in the town of Bernburg, near Magdeburg, where he worked as a psychiatrist.
After moving to Germany, the suspect reportedly set up a service to help other asylum seekers immigrate to Germany. Regarding this work, he said, “It was featured in several media.'' fuzz (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) wrote for the BBC to promote his mission for human rights in Saudi Arabia. ” Welts report.
BBC noticed In 2019, we focused on helping ex-Muslims flee Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, with a particular focus on women.
in interview and fuzz That same year, Taleb declared himself “the most aggressive critic of Islam in history” and claimed that he had been ostracized by Germany's Muslim community because of his atheism. In the article, he also detailed his move to become an asylum seeker activist in Germany.
Editor's note attached to the article after he was identified as the suspected Magdeburg attacker, fuzz “This interview with Taleb al-A. was published in June 2019. The assassination suspect's posts on social media show that he has become increasingly hostile to Germany and its immigration policy in the five and a half years since. There are also signs of paranoia. Nothing like this felt like this in 2019. Below is the unchanged text of the conversation. ”
Since then, Taleb A has become increasingly critical of the German government and its immigration policies, accusing Berlin of promoting the “Islamization” of Europe. He seemed particularly angry higher than the acceptance rate of “Syrian jihadists” compared to ex-Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
Media attention after the incident has focused on Taleb's comments in support of the populist right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) over its criticism of Muslim immigrants, but Taleb apparently considers himself a leftist. It seems like it was.
“Taleb A. said in an interview that he is not a right-winger, but a left-winger.” der spiegel report.
German news magazines report Berlin security officials said they received three warnings from Saudi Arabia about the suspect. He was also warned that the country would pay a “price” after a 2023 post vowing “vengeance” against Germany for its alleged persecution of Saudi refugees. However, officials have reportedly dismissed these statements and do not consider him a threat as a potential extremist.
Reported in another post in 2024 Weltshe is claimed to have said: “I guarantee you. If Germany wants war, we will go to war. If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die or proudly go to prison. Every peaceful Because they have exhausted their means, crimes by the police, the State Security Service, the public prosecutor's office, the judiciary, and the Ministry of Interior will only increase. Peace is of no use to them.”
There are growing calls that the suspect may have suffered from some kind of mental illness, with German media reporting that his online posts were “confused”.
According to to build The newspaper said a saliva drug test conducted after the attack showed the suspect may have been intoxicated at the time of the attack. It's currently unclear what drugs he was taking, but the paper says the test tested positive for seven different drugs, including amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, cocaine, and methamphetamines (MDMA, ecstasy). It says it was scanned.
At the time of this report, five people were killed and over 200 injured, many seriously, as a result of the attack.
