What we know about the suspect behind the German Christmas market attack – National
Germany on Saturday was still shocked and struggling to understand the suspect who committed the incident in the city of Magdeburg.
Identified by local media as Taleb A., 50, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, authorities say he has lived in Germany for 20 years. He was arrested on the spot after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market full of holiday shoppers on Friday evening, killing at least five people and injuring around 200.
Renowned German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted to X that he had yet to meet a suspect in the name of mass violence with that profile.
Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets that focus on anti-Islamic themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who have left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.
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He criticized the German authorities, saying they failed to do enough to fight “European Islamism.”
He also expressed support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Some have described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their country. Recently, he appeared to focus on his opinion that the German authorities were targeting Saudi asylum seekers.
Neumann, a terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing can surprise you. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance of Islamists – that wasn’t really on my radar.
On Saturday, Germany’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, told reporters: “At the moment, we can say for sure that the perpetrator was Islamophobic – we can confirm that.” Everything else is a matter that will be investigated so we have to wait.”
A German-based organization called Athiest Refugee Relief said the suspect was not part of the group and said he made “numerous allegations and claims” against it and former board members, which it said were false.
“We strongly distance ourselves from him,” the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of Atheist Refugee Relief sued him in 2019 following “severe slander and verbal attacks.”
© 2024 The Canadian Press
