Attack in Magdeburg: ++ Thousands of citizens at the funeral service – Wagenknecht

The attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg shocked Germany. At least five people were killed, including a nine-year-old child. 200 people were injured, some seriously. A driver drove straight into the crowd. The Saudi driver, a doctor named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, was arrested.

All developments in the live ticker:

00:55 a.m. – BKA boss confirms “unspecific” warning from Saudi Arabia

The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, spoke on ZDF. Münch said that the BKA received a tip from Saudi Arabia about the man in November 2023. “Proceedings have also been initiated here. The police in Saxony-Anhalt then carried out appropriate investigative measures.” However, the matter was unspecific.

“He also had various contacts with the authorities, made insults and even made threats. “But he was not known for acts of violence,” Münch said of the suspect. But these things would have to be checked again to see whether the security authorities had let anything slip. “We have a completely atypical pattern here, and we have to analyze it calmly now.”

00:10 a.m. – Victims’ representative fears hundreds of those affected

The federal government’s victims’ representative, Pascal Kober, expects several hundred people to be in need of help after the death trip. “This is one of the biggest attacks we have had to date,” the FDP member of the Bundestag told the RND. “If you include witnesses and first responders, that increases to a high three-digit number of affected people.”

The experience can be associated with great psychological stress, said Kober. “Those affected should not think that they can cope with this alone. The earlier help is available, the lower the risk that damage will become chronic.” Those affected must be informed about the options for financial and psychosocial help. “It is important that no concern goes unnoticed.”

Saturday December 21st:

9:55 p.m. – Right-wing extremists and hooligans in the city center

Right-wing extremist slogans were also mixed into the commemoration in downtown Magdeburg on Saturday evening. According to an initial estimate by the police, around 1,000 participants gathered in a central square in the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. Among other things, you could see a banner with the word “remigration” and so-called homeland flags. Shouts like “We are the people” could be heard. A “Bild” reporter reports on aggressive right-wing extremists and hooligans. Right-wing extremist Thorsten Heise – politician from the “Heimat” party, formerly the NPD – held accordingly a speech.

8:49 p.m. – Thousands of citizens at the funeral service – “Is there still a safe place?” shouts the bishop

Thousands of Magdeburg residents commemorate the victims at funeral and memorial services in the cathedral and on Cathedral Square. At 7:04 p.m., exactly 24 hours after the crime, all the church bells in the city rang.

In his sermon, the Central German Protestant regional bishop Friedrich Kramer called for unity. “Is there still a safe place?” Kramer asked. Violent criminals put themselves on the throne of attention. “Everything should conform to them, and anything that doesn’t conform to them should die,” said Kramer. He called for these violent criminals not to be given space, but rather to stand together as a society in solidarity.

“Yesterday evening’s brutal attack leaves us sad and angry, perplexed and afraid, uncertain and desperate, speechless and stunned and deeply affected. “We are here in the cathedral this evening with feelings that cannot be grasped,” said Catholic Bishop Gerhard Feige.

7:25 p.m. – Memorial hour in Magdeburg Cathedral

Those affected and their relatives, emergency services, citizens and politicians commemorate the victims in Magdeburg Cathedral. Among those present are Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Haseloff, Federal Chancellor Scholz, Federal President Steinmeier and Mayor Simone Borris (independent).

6:26 p.m. – Police tried to address a threat a year ago

The police said at the press conference that an attempt was made to speak to the perpetrator in front of him about a complaint. But apparently that didn’t happen. According to the public prosecutor’s office, al-Abdulmohsen was “not the focus” of investigators.

6:14 p.m. – Musk criticizes the “suicidal empathy of the German government”

On Friday, the tech billionaire had already called for Scholz to resign. On Saturday, Elon Musk pointed out Saudi Arabia’s extradition requests for the perpetrator in Magdeburg – and criticized the fact that Germany had not given in to this. “Yes, he was obviously a madman who should never have entered Germany and who was supposed to be extradited when Saudi Arabia made the request,” Musk writes. “Suicidal empathy on the part of the German government.”

6:09 p.m. – Saudis repeatedly pointed out the attacker’s posts

German security circles confirmed to WELT that the Saudi embassy had drawn the German authorities’ attention to Taleb al-Abdulmohsen several times. According to the Reuters news agency, this happened in 2023 and 2024. However, the information only referred to the man’s public posts on the short message service X.

5:36 p.m. – Wagenknecht: Faeser has to clarify ignored warnings

BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht calls on the Federal Ministry of the Interior to clarify whether the crime could have been prevented. Interior Minister Faeser must once again answer the question “why so many tips and warnings were ignored in advance,” said Wagenknecht. Although the suspect was known to the Federal Criminal Police Office, among others, and publicly posted his “radical positions and threats against Germany and its citizens,” he had a permanent residence permit. In view of the attacks in Solingen and Mannheim, Wagenknecht called for “finally a convincing security concept with a clear focus on protecting the population”.

5:22 p.m. – Perpetrator speaks out – Federal Attorney General has not yet taken over

The investigations are continuing to be conducted by the police in Saxony-Anhalt. The federal prosecutor’s office is still checking whether it will take over the investigation, it was said at the press conference. The perpetrator is still in police custody. He has already commented.