German authorities say they received a tip last year about a suspect in a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, as more details emerge about the five people killed on Sunday.
Authorities identified the suspect as a Saudi Arabian doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had obtained permanent residency. Police are not releasing the suspect’s name in line with privacy regulations, but some German media outlets identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he is an expert in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Authorities say he does not fit the typical profile of an extremist attacker. The man described himself as a former Muslim who is highly critical of Islam, and expressed support for the far-right anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in many posts on social media.
He remains in custody pending investigation by authorities.
“This perpetrator was clearly ideologically Islamophobic, but he acted in an incredibly cruel and cruel manner, befitting an Islamist terrorist,” Interior Minister Nancy Feiser said on Sunday.
The suspect originally lived in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, completed his professional training in Stralsund, and came to the attention of authorities through threats of criminal activity, state Interior Minister Christian Pagel announced on Sunday.
In a dispute over the approval of test results, Pegel threatened members of the state medical association with acts that would attract international attention, leading to an investigation and a search of his home, dpa news agency reported, citing Pagel. . A court found him guilty of threatening to attack in 2013, although no evidence was found of actual preparations for the attack.
He then made another threat, Pegel said.
Federal Criminal Police Chief Holger Münsch said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Saturday that the agency received a tip-off from Saudi Arabia in November 2023 and that authorities had initiated “appropriate investigative measures.”
“This man also published a huge number of posts on the Internet. He also came into contact with various authorities, insulting and even threatening them. However, there is no evidence that he committed acts of violence. was unknown,” said Munsch, whose office is Germany’s equivalent of the FBI.
But the warnings turned out to be very unclear, he said.
The federal immigration and refugee agency also said it received a tip about the suspect late last summer.
“As with many other reports, we took this seriously,” the office said on Saturday’s X. However, the agency also said it was not an investigative agency and referred the information to the appropriate authorities. No other details were disclosed.
The Central Council of Ex-Muslims said in a statement that the suspects had expressed shock at the attack and had “exposed terror” to them for years.
“He clearly shared the beliefs of the far-right wing of the AfD and believed in a massive conspiracy aimed at the Islamization of Germany. His delusional ideas went too far and he was critical of Islamism.” “They believed that even the largest organizations were part of an Islamist conspiracy,” the statement said.
The group’s president, Mina Ahadi, said in the same statement: “Initially, we suspected he was a spy for an Islamist movement. But now we believe he is a psychopath who espouses a far-right conspiracy ideology.”
Police in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt state, said on Sunday that the dead were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a 9-year-old boy.
Officials said 200 people were injured, 41 of them in critical condition. They were being treated at multiple hospitals in Magdeburg, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin, and beyond.
The suspect was brought before a judge Saturday night, who ordered him held behind closed doors on charges of murder and attempted murder. He faces possible charges.
Fears of renewed mass violence in Germany are likely to keep the country a key issue ahead of early general elections on February 23. In August, there was a deadly knife attack in Solingen by a suspected Syrian Islamic extremist. He pushed the issue to the top of the agenda and led Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s government to strengthen border security measures.
Right-wing groups across Europe have criticized German authorities for allowing high levels of immigration in the past and for what they now see as a security flaw.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, long known for his strong anti-immigration stance, used the attack in Germany to slam the European Union’s immigration policy, calling it an “act of terrorism.”
At his annual press conference in Budapest on Saturday, Prime Minister Orbán said: “There is no doubt that there is a link between the changed world of Western Europe and the influx of migrants there, especially illegal immigration, and terrorism.” No,” he claimed.
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Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writer Bálint Dömötör in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.
