Home Featured ‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians
‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians

‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians

by host

Several German media outlets identified the alleged attacker before prosecutors confirmed his name. WELT, a sister publication of POLITICO in the Axel Springer group, said the Saudi Arabian was granted refugee status in 2016. 

‘Using dirty tricks’

German media also reported that the alleged attacker was an AfD supporter. In 2019 interviews with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Frankurter Rundschau, Abdulmohsen described his online anti-Islam advocacy and initiatives to help Saudis apply for asylum. “I am the most aggressive critic of Islam in history. If you don’t believe me, ask the Arabs,” he said.

On his proported X account, Abdulmohsen claimed that “Germany wants to islamize Europe” and accused German police of “using dirty tactics against me and other critics of Islam … to destroy our anti-Islam activism.”

The AfD, along with other far-right European parties, was quick to jump on reports that the alleged perpetrator was an immigrant. Alice Weidel, chair of the AfD, pointedly asked “When will this madness end?” while expressing her condolences for the victims of the attack.

At least five people were killed, including a child, according to the premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, of the CDU.  Some 200 others were injured in the attack, the prosecutors said.

Investigators “do not yet know whether it was a terrorist attack,” the Magdeburg chief prosecutor said. | Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Germany’s election, triggered by the collapse of a three-party coalition led by Scholz, is scheduled for Feb. 23.

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