50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia living in Germany since 2006
The suspect who drove into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five people and injuring more than 200 others, is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor described as anti-Islam, and a supporter of far-right and Zionism.
German media has named the person as Talib A, who knocked over dozens of people on Friday evening before being arrested by police.
The suspect came to Germany in 2006 and had been working as a psychiatrist in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg.
His social media posts often expressed concerns about the rise of Islam in Germany. He shared posts in support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a far-right party opposed to Muslim immigration, and other anti-Islam groups in Europe. He is also said to have shared a map of the so-called "Greater Israel" that includes parts of Turkish territory.
The suspect's X account features a machine gun, and claims that "Germany chases female Saudi asylum seekers, inside and outside Germany, to destroy their lives," and that "Germany wants to islamize Europe."
In a message posted on X in December 2023, the suspect accused the German state of persecuting Saudi Arabian refugees and threatened: “I assure you that revenge will come 100%, even if it costs my life.”
“Germany will have to pay a very high price for this,” he said.
In a May post, the suspect said: “Honestly, I expect to die this year. Reason: I will ensure justice at any cost. The German authorities are blocking all peaceful paths to justice.”
In an Arabic post around the same time, he wrote: “I assure you that if Germany wants war, we will give it to them. If Germany wants to kill us, we will kill them, die, or go to prison with pride. We have exhausted all peaceful means, and now we face new crimes from the police, prosecutors, judiciary, Interior Ministry. Peace is of no use to them."
According to German media reports, the alleged attacker had written hate-filled social media posts against Christians and Muslims, and praised Israel's genocide in Gaza and other attacks.
Germany is said to have refused a request for his extradition.
- Praise for Netanyahu, support for Israel's occupation
The suspect, who made detailed posts on his X account about why he loved Israel, praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
In an Arabic post in October, he called for Arabs to take to the streets in support of Israel's occupation and annexation of not only Gaza and the West Bank but also Lebanon.
On Dec. 8, he commented on Netanyahu's message about Syria, saying: “Part of Syria will be lucky enough to become part of Israel."
The suspect also sent supportive messages to a photo of an Israeli soldier in Gaza holding an LGBT flag.
In a post in January, the Islamophobic and pro-Zionist attacker wrote: “I congratulate Palestinian women. Netanyahu will annex Palestinian territories to Israel. Now your fathers will no longer be able to force you to wear headscarves.”
His account, which included numerous posts supporting far-right, racist, and anti-Islam movements across Europe, was followed by several far-right activists.
The suspect also posted against former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for accepting Muslim refugees, sharing an extreme far-right X account's call for Merkel to spend the rest of her life in prison. "I completely agree. Since there is no death penalty in Germany, Merkel should spend the rest of her life in prison for her hidden project to Islamize Europe, but if the death penalty is reinstated, she deserves to be killed,” he wrote.
- ‘What we can say for certain is that the perpetrator is Islamophobic'
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser confirmed that the person accused of carrying out the attack was anti-Islamic.
"What we can say for certain is that the perpetrator is Islamophobic,” she said, but added that investigation into all aspects of the case is ongoing.
According to the Spiegel news magazine, Saudi Arabia had recently issued three warnings to German security authorities about the potential danger posed by the alleged attacker.
