Report: German Xmas market attacker is Saudi anti-Islamist who shared pro-Israel content
Regional premier says suspect is doctor, 50, who lived in Germany since 2006, showed support for far-right AfD; Washington Post says man believed to have been under influence of drugs
The suspect in the deadly ramming at a Christmas market in Germany on Friday was an anti-Islam activist who shared pro-Israel content on social media in the wake of the October 7 attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Five people were killed and some 200 injured when an SUV plowed through the festive crowd in Magdeburg. One of the victims was a young child.
Regional premier Reiner Haselhoff said that the suspect is a 50-year-old doctor and was seemingly a lone attacker. He was detained in the wake of the deadly ramming.
German media added that he was a doctor of psychiatry, and partially named him as Taleb A.
According to the Journal report, the suspect, a Saudi national who had moved to Germany in 2006, ran a website and social media channels warning against Islam and discussing women’s rights, as well as posting content in support of Israel.
He also showed support for Germany’s far-right anti-immigration AfD party, the report said.
A German security official familiar with the investigation told the Journal that the suspect had arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker who said he had fled Saudi Arabia due to strict Islamic laws. He was granted refugee status before obtaining permanent residence in the country.
According to the report, the suspect had posted on social media in recent days accusing the German government of allowing the proliferation of Islamization in the country and of persecuting female Saudi asylum seekers.
An anonymous German official told The Washington Post on Saturday morning that the suspect is believed to have been under the influence of drugs while carrying out the attack.
Haselhoff said the suspect was being questioned and would not comment on his motives.
The local Volksstimme newspaper said reports from the scene indicated the attacker clearly tried “to hit as many people as possible.”
Video footage from the scene showed the driver’s arrest as police with their handguns trained shouted, “Lie down, hands on your back, don’t move!” at the bearded man with glasses who was lying on the ground next to the heavily damaged car.
Footage claimed to show the moment that the Saudi National who committed the Ramming Attack earlier tonight on a Christmas Market in the City of Magdeburg, was Arrested by German Police. pic.twitter.com/niZonLmTik
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 20, 2024
Police said the vehicle drove “at least 400 meters across the Christmas market” leaving a trail of bloodied casualties, debris and broken glass at the city’s central town hall square.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that “the reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears.”
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
Scholz was expected to travel to the city on Saturday, said the state premier.
