A man suspected of driving a car into a German Christmas market in an attack that killed at least five people and injured dozens more faces charges of murder and attempted murder, police said Sunday, after the a person to be detained.
Police in the city center of Magdeburg, where the attack took place on Friday, also reported scuffles at a far-right demonstration of around 2,100 people on Saturday night, while other residents took part in violent commemorations.
The suspect is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who has been living in Germany for almost two decades.
A judge ordered the man into pre-trial detention after prosecutors pressed charges of five counts of murder, several counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, according to a police report.
He identified the dead as a nine-year-old boy and four adult women, aged 52, 45, 75 and 67.
German authorities have not named the suspect, who has permanent residency status in Germany, and local media reports are not giving his full name in accordance with local privacy law. The international media, including BBC News and the Guardian, however, identify the accused as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.
The suspect's X account states that he was formerly a Muslim. It is full of tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion, while also sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who have left the faith. He criticized the German authorities, saying they had not done enough to combat the “Islamification of Europe.” He has also shown support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Police reported scuffles at a protest attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night, one day after the attack. Right-wing admirers had described the gathering on the messaging app Telegram as an “anti-terror demonstration”.
Protesters wearing black balaclavas could be seen holding a large banner with the word “remigration”, a term favored by far-right supporters who sought mass deportations of migrants and people considered ethnically non-German.
It is not clear why the attack was on Friday night.
