Anti-immigrant anger after attack on German market increases

Anti-immigrant anger after attack on German market increases

Magdeburg, Germany - it is a gruesome scene that emerges in the heart of Magdeburg. The mulled wine stands, adorned with lights and tinsel, are now empty and closed. German police officers wake up over the crime scene on the closed market road, while forensic teams carefully examine the traces of crime and clean the blood stains from the street.

The terrible incident

The Auto-tlag on Friday evening cost at least five people, including one 9-year-old boy, and put the provincial city in a shock state. Marrored candles light and lay flowers at the entrance to the market, while many feel a deep feeling of loss.

"I saw a lot of misery, many people looking for answers. Many tears, confusion and extreme shock states," said Corinna Pagels, an emergency psychologist who offers help for those affected. Grief reminds people in Germany of a similar attack in 2016 when more than a dozen people were killed at a Christmas market in Berlin.

the perpetrator and his motifs

At that time it was a 24-year-old Tunisian who tried to apply for asylum in Germany. This time the But speaking very different. Taleb al Abdulmohsen, 50 years old, originally comes from Saudi Arabia and has lived in Germany since 2006, where he works as a psychiatric consultant in a local clinic. He is a declared atheist and critic of Islam and described himself in a newspaper interview in 2019 as "the most aggressive critic of Islam in history".

social media and political expressions

In social media, Abdulmohsen expressed support for the German, anti-immigration anti-immigration AfD Party and expressed his frustrations about the German government's immigration policy that is too lax, as well as the supposedly warm relationship of Berlin with the Saudi regime. Recent news from him included threats. In August Abdulmohsen said that if Germany wanted to kill us, we will slaughter them or proudly go to prison. "

The reactions of the public

For many people in Magdeburg, it does not matter that the youngest Christmas market attacker does not fit into the expected security profile. "Our politicians are responsible for this," said a resident named Barbara to CNN, while she took off her expression of respect outside of the police barriers. "I think you should clearly name responsibility for such acts." Another resident, Tom, added: "Now it is time to close our limits."

political consequences and the mood in Germany

politicians from various political camps use the attack to attack the government coalition. Both the Far-Left politician Sahra Wagenknecht asked Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, "why so many hints and warnings were ignored in advance." Meanwhile, the right -wing extremist AfD, which has gained a significant time this year, is organizing a rally in Magdeburg on Monday evening. The parliamentary head of the AfD called for a special meeting for the discussion of security issues after the attack.

The cruel attack on the Christmas market, although supposedly committed by a self -proclaimed Islamophobe, reinforces the angry mood against immigration in Germany.