A man suspected of driving a car into a German Christmas market in an attack that killed at least five people and injured scores more will be charged with murder and attempted murder, police said Sunday after the man was taken into custody.
Police in downtown Magdeburg, where the attack occurred on Friday, also reported scuffles at a right-wing extremist demonstration in which around 2,100 people took part on Saturday evening, while other residents took part in somber memorial events.
The suspect is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for almost two decades.
A judge ordered the man to be remanded in custody after prosecutors filed charges of five counts of murder, multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, a police statement said.
The dead were a nine-year-old boy and four adult women aged 52, 45, 75 and 67.
German authorities have not released the name of the suspect, who has permanent residency status in Germany, and local media reports do not provide his full name in line with local data protection laws. However, international media, including BBC News and the Guardian, identify the defendant as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.
The suspect’s X-Account describes him as a former Muslim. It is full of tweets and retweets that focus on Islamophobic themes and criticism of religion and congratulate Muslims who have given up the faith. He criticized the German authorities, saying they had not done enough to combat the “Islamization of Europe.” He has also expressed support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Police reported scuffles at a protest rally attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday evening, a day after the attack. Right-wingers had described the gathering on the messaging app Telegram as a “demonstration against terror”.
Demonstrators were seen wearing black balaclavas and holding a large banner reading “Remigration,” a term popular with far-right supporters who seek the mass deportation of migrants and people not considered ethnically German .
The motive for the attack on Friday evening remains unclear.
