Magdeburg Christmas market car attack: Saudi Arabian doctor, 50, who killed at least four tweeted that ‘slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately’ may be a ‘path to justice’

The perpetrator of the deadly Christmas market massacre that has left at least five dead wrote that ‘slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately’ may be a ‘path to justice’ just months before the horrifying attack.

An adult and a toddler are among those killed after an anti-Islam doctor rammed into a massive crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Magdeburg at around 7pm on December 20 with a dark BMW.

Authorities identified the perpetrator as 50-year-old psychologist Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, who arrived in Germany in 2006 as a refugee from Saudi Arabia. 

He was arrested Friday evening at the site of the attack, with footage taken in the minutes after the crash showing him being detained by officers at gunpoint before being taken into custody for questioning. 

It has since emerged that just months before the horrific massacre, al-Abdulmohsen, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy from the Saudi Arabian city of Hofuf, made a harrowing tweet about ‘slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately’. 

He wrote on August 21: ‘Is there a path to justice in Germany without bombing a German embassy or slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately? 

‘I have been looking for this peaceful way since January 2019 and I have not found it. If anyone knows it, please guide me.’ 

Analysis of his social media also reveals tweets in support of Germany’s anti-immigration party AfD, while he has also made comments supporting Elon Musk, far-right thug Tommy Robinson and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The account’s bio reads: ‘Saudi Military Opposition. Germany chases female Saudi asylum seekers, inside and outside Germany, to destroy their lives. Germany wants to islamize Europe.’

Posts include retweets of graphic videos, including one of a young Muslim woman purportedly being stoned to death ‘because she had an affair with a young man outside of marriage.’

Another was a retweet of a post that simply read: ‘Can you find one positive thing about Islam?’

In videos posted hours before the attack, he claimed that German authorities were opening his mail and stealing items including a USB stick. 

‘I consider the Germans, as citizens, responsible for the persecution I am facing’ he said in one video. 

‘Currently in this country, the nation that is actively criminally chasing Islam critics is the German nation’, he said in another.

He also appears to be a fan of AfD. In June, he retweeted party leader Alice Weidel, writing with typos: ‘The left are crazy. We need the AfD to protect the police from them.’

He also retweeted the right-wing extremist AfD activist Naomi Seibt with the following quote: ‘Tyranny is based on the docility of cowards. I choose to be brave.’ 

He was arrested following the crash which took place at 7:04pm in the city of Magdeburg, according to unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt who spoke to the dpa news agency. 

A search of his name and details of his work revealed he was interviewed by the Frankfurter Rundschau, a regional newspaper, in 2019

‘He came to Germany as a visiting doctor during his specialist training as a psychotherapist and later applied for asylum here because he had been threatened with death for turning away from Islam. The 44-year-old is recognized as a political refugee’, the newspaper wrote of him five years ago. 

In the Frankfurter Rundschau interview, he described his work with the wearesaudis.net website, a group dedicated to providing information on ‘escape routes’ for people living in Saudi Arabia, particularly women. 

He said in the 2019 interview: ‘Nine out of ten people from Saudi Arabia who ask me about the asylum system are women. 

‘Other asylum activists report similar figures. This may be because for Saudi Arabian women, asylum is the only path to justice. Even if a woman is not oppressed, her fate depends on her male guardian. 

‘There are women who say that they have good husbands who do not oppress them, but they wonder what will happen if the man dies. 

‘If the new man beats her, she will not get any help. A woman is only protected if she has powerful men in her family.’

Just five days before carrying out the attack, Al-Abdulmohsen gave an interview with the right-wing RAIR Foundation in which he said: ‘If a Syrian citizen applies for asylum in Germany, the chance to be granted asylum is 99.8%… 

‘While if a Saudi citizen applies for asylum in Germany, that chance is only 70%, and I know personally that many of those rejected are ex-Muslims. 

‘Germany is welcoming Syrians—including many Islamists—while simultaneously rejecting Saudi apostates, people who are genuinely fleeing Sharia-based death sentences.’ 

Since news of the attack spread around the world, RAIR said in a statement: ‘If these reports are accurate, it appears we and other media outlets were misled regarding his true intentions.

‘We are actively seeking more information and will provide updates as they become available.’ No official motive for the attack has been identified by police. 

‘As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,’ Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters.

‘Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.’ 

Local media reported that police raided al-Abdulmohsen’s home in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg. Authorities added that he appears to have rented the car shortly before the attack. 

The initial death toll from the horrific attack on Friday evening had stood at two, but this has since risen to five, according to German newspaper Spiegel.

Bild, another local news site, reported that 86 people are receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries, while another 78 sustained minor injuries. Police were not immediately available to comment on casualties.

The black BMW tore through the traditional market in the centre of Magdeburg, southwest of Berlin on Friday night.

Police said the vehicle drove ‘at least 400 metres across the Christmas market’ leaving behind destruction, debris and broken glass on the city’s central town hall square.

Horrific video footage showed countless revellers fleeing for their lives in the wake of the crash. Separate footage showed children crying loudly as several small crowds of people formed over those injured in the crash, in apparent attempts to help them. 

One man who spoke to German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung said the Christmas market has turned to ‘war-like conditions’, while another eyewitness told the newspaper that there were countless families in the ‘fairytale area’ of the market when the car crashed through the crowd. 

The Magdeburg Christmas market is located on the Old Market, directly next to Magdeburg Town Hall near the River Elbe, and was closed by organisers following the incident. 

Organisers have also asked people to leave the city centre, while several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. 

On Saturday morning, residents went to the Johanneskirche church, just opposite the market, to lay candles in tribute to the victims. 

Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act. 

‘The pictures are terrible,’ Reif said. ‘My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far.’

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser were due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening. 

Scholz expressed his concern in the wake of the attack in a post to X, writing: ‘The reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.’

In a post to X, Germany’s interior minister said: ‘The news from Magdeburg is deeply shocking. The emergency services are doing everything they can to care for the injured and save lives.

‘Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. The security authorities will clarify the background.’

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff said in the wake of the attack: ‘This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas.’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Magdeburg on Saturday to pay tribute to the victims of Friday’s attack.

His Social Democrats are trailing both the far-right AfD and the frontrunner conservative opposition in opinion polls ahead of snap elections set for Feb. 23.

The AfD has led calls for a crackdown on migration to the country.

Its chancellor candidate Alice Weidel and co-leader Tino Chrupalla issued a statement on Saturday condemning the attack.

‘The terrible attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in the middle of the peaceful pre-Christmas period has shaken us,’ they said.

A leading member of Scholz’s Social Democrats in the Bundestag parliament warned against jumping to conclusions and said it appeared the attacker did not have an Islamist motive.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice-chancellor, said in a post to X: ‘What terrible news from Magdeburg, where people wanted to spend the Advent season in peace and community. 

‘My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I thank all the emergency services on site who are doing everything they can to help and to clarify the background.’

CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wrote on X: ‘This is very depressing news from Magdeburg. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I thank all emergency services who are caring for the injured on site.’

The world has already begun reacting to the horrific news. 

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote on X: ‘I am horrified by the atrocious attack in Magdeburg tonight. 

‘My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected. We stand with the people of Germany.’

The Government is in contact with German authorities, the Foreign Office said, and is closely monitoring the situation.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was ‘appalled by the news from Magdeburg’ and offered support to his German counterpart.

Saudi Arabia, where the attacker was from, said in a statement on X: ‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of the run-over incident that occurred in a market in the city of Magdeburg in the Federal Republic of Germany, which resulted in the death and injury of a number of people, expressing its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims. 

‘The Kingdom affirms its position in rejecting violence, and expresses its sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and to the Federal Republic of Germany, government and people, while wishing the injured a speedy recovery.’

The UK’s Foreign Office, meanwhile, said it was ‘closely monitoring the situation,;

A spokesperson said: ‘We are in contact with the German authorities following an incident in the city of Magdeburg and are closely monitoring the situation.

‘Our thoughts are with all those affected.’

Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.