EPAGerman authorities are facing questions about security and what they knew about the suspect who is accused of using an access lane for emergency vehicles to drive into a Christmas market in Magdeburg. Five people were killed and more than 200 were injured.
On a visit on Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz, ministers and regional political leaders were heckled by members of the public, some visibly angry at what was criticized as a security lapse.
German authorities have defended market order and security.
Authorities are still raising questions after reports they were warned about last year. the suspectpolice say they assessed whether the suspect might be a threat a year ago.
The accused has Pre-trial detention has been ordered. On counts of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Usually at this time of year, German city centers are packed with shoppers and mulled wine drinkers, but this year the mood is very different.
The central Christmas market has been cordoned off with tape and surrounded by police vans as armed officers patrol nearby shops and malls.
There is sadness as well as surprise and anger in the air in Magdeburg, as people ask how this could happen.
When Scholes and his entourage exited the cordoned-off market on Saturday, they were met with heckles and heckles and chants of “have it now,” a highly offensive form of “get lost.” .
Some people seemed outraged by the perceived lack of security. Others seemed generally angry and irritated with Germany’s political leaders.
Security has been increased at Christmas markets across Germany since a similar attack in Berlin in 2016 when a man drove a lorry into market crowds, killing 12 people.
Open-plan Christmas markets now have some sort of barrier around them – usually large concrete blocks, as in Magdeburg.
However, the gap between the barriers was large enough for emergency vehicles to pass through.
City official Ronnie Krug told reporters at a press conference on Saturday that emergency responders need a “conventional” emergency evacuation route, and all relevant agencies have approved the plan.
“The concept of safety and security, on the one hand, should protect those attending an event as much as possible, but also ensure that, if something does happen, it is done safely and Can exit the site quickly.” he said.
“Perhaps this is something that could not be prevented”, he added.
German media reported that the suspect had given a warning of possible danger before the attack.
The suspect, Talib Al Mohsen, from Saudi Arabia, came to Germany in 2006 and was recognized as a refugee in 2016.
An atheist, he ran a website aimed at helping other ex-Muslims fleeing persecution in their Gulf homelands. His social media was full of anti-Islamic sentiments and conspiracy theories.
At Saturday’s press conference, Magdeburg Police Chief Tom Oliver Langhans said police had evaluated whether the suspect could be a potential threat, but that the discussion went back a year.
He added that investigations into the suspect’s past are ongoing and declined to comment further.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser told German newspaper Bild that investigators would review “in detail” what information authorities had about the suspect in the past and how he was investigated.
The German Office for Migration and Refugees announced in a post on social media that it had lodged a complaint about the suspect, which it took “seriously”, but as the office is not an investigative body, Therefore, the complainant has been referred to other authorities.
A tip received by authorities is believed to have come from the suspect’s home country of Saudi Arabia.
A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC that it had sent four official notifications, known as “notices verbales”, to German authorities, warning them of what they described as Abdul Mohsen’s “extremely extremist views”. “were
However, a counter-terrorism expert told the BBC that the Saudis had launched a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who had tried to help young Saudi women gain asylum in Germany. .
On Saturday, Longans said he did not have information when asked about Saudi Arabia issuing the warning.
Later, Holger Munch, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told public broadcaster ZDF that his office had received a notice from Saudi Arabia in November 2023. He said the local police took appropriate investigative steps, but the case was non-specific.
He added that the suspect had “various interactions with authorities, insulted and threatened them, but was not known for violent acts”.
Munch said past investigations would need to be revisited.
Social media under investigation
The suspect’s social media accounts are being heavily scrutinized as investigators build their case against him.
He was a prolific poster of anti-Islam sentiment and conspiracy theories on X, and had made threats in the past.
X’s owner Elon Musk has questions about why his platform didn’t take action against Abdulmohsen, the German ambassador to the UK said.
Ambassador Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House program on Sunday: “We have seen that the person who carried out this terrible attack was very active, who was making threats on X. The question is, ‘Is it really? X works against these things?’
“We have a digital safety act in the EU that requires social media to follow. […]. It hasn’t happened,” he said.
Musk’s own account called for Schulz to resign, and retweeted several accounts criticizing the German government for failing to act on threats made by the suspect on social media.
The BBC has contacted X for a response.
Musk’s criticism of German officials goes beyond the Magdeburg attack. The morning before the attack, he posted in support of the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
He said that only the AfD can save Germany.
Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, thanked Musk for the “note” and said that “the alternative to Germany is indeed the one and only alternative for our country; our last option,” in a post retweeted by Musk. .
When the BBC asked Musk to comment on how to tell Germans how to vote, Berger said: “I think Elon Musk – before giving unsolicited advice to German citizens – has given them responsibility for his platform. Must see.”
