Anti-Islamist allegedly responsible for the Christmas horror of Magdeburg
Screenshot of Taleb al-Abdulmohsen’s X (Twitter) account. The suspect of the attack on Magdeburg’s Christmas market claims that Germany intends to Islamise Europe
December 2024: The 50-year Saudi doctor, who is suspected of driving at great speed into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg (Eastern Germany) on 20 December 2024, has emerged as an outspoken anti-Islamist. Taleb al-Abdulmohsen has posted countless rumbling comments on social media in which he claimed that German politicians were deliberately trying to ‘Islamise’ the country. He also expressed his admiration for Germany’s far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party and his hatred for Angela Merkel, Germany’s former Chancellor.
Earlier this month (December 2024), he speculated on X/Twitter about Merkel's alleged criminal secret project to Islamise Europe. “As there is no death penalty in Germany, Merkel must spend the rest of her life in prison”, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen wrote in English. “But if the death penalty is reintroduced, she deserves to be killed.”
The attack on Magdeburg’s Christmas market caused the immediate death of five people. Among the 200 people injured, 40 are thought to be in critical condition. The number of fatalities is, therefore, expected to rise.
The suspect had not previously come to the attention of the authorities as an extremist. On the contrary, in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) newspaper in 2019, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen presented himself as an activist who wanted to help other people. However, there is a lot of evidence online that proves his radicalisation.
According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the suspect was born in the Saudi Arabian city of Hufuf. He came to Germany in March 2006 as a visiting doctor training to become a psychotherapist. In July 2016, he is said to have been recognised as a refugee and received a permanent residence permit. The reason for this was his renunciation of Islam and the death threats to which he was subsequently subjected.
In the interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen explained that he informs women from Saudi Arabia about the German asylum system to show them a safe way out of their home country. He created a website to help women do this. The British broadcaster BBC also published a video about his efforts as an activist in 2019.
The German daily newspaper Die Welt reported that Taleb al-Abdulmohsen described himself as an ex-Muslim. He spread the claim that Germany wanted to ‘Islamise’ Europe. He also wrote: “Germany hunts Saudi asylum seekers inside and outside Germany to destroy their lives.”
The suspect also appears to sympathise with the AfD, as reported by Der Spiegel. In other posts on X, he is said to have fantasised about joint projects with the AfD. He is said to have imagined an academy for ex-Muslims. He wrote: “Who else is fighting Islam in Germany?” According to a report by AFP, he allegedly labelled the left as crazy and wrote the following about the AfD: “We need the AfD to protect the police from themselves.”
Sources: X (Twitter) account of Taleb al-Abdulmohsen; Der Spiegel; Die Welt; Frankfurter Rundschau; The Telegraph; AFP and other news outlets
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