What we know about the suspect in the German Christmas market attack

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany was still in shock Saturday and struggling to understand the suspect in the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as Taleb A., a 50-year-old specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, authorities indicated that he has lived in Germany for two decades. He was arrested at the scene after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market packed with shoppers on Friday night, killing at least five people and injuring about 200.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had never encountered a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s He also described himself as an ex-Muslim.

He criticized German authorities, saying they had not done enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also expressed support for the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some people described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have persecuted Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business,’ you think that nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old ex-Muslim Saudi who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance of Islamists — that wasn’t really on my radar.”

On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters: “At this moment, we can only say with certainty that the perpetrator was obviously Islamophobic, we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter of further investigation and we have to wait.”

A Germany-based organization called Atheist Refugee Relief said the alleged attacker was not part of the group and claimed he made “numerous accusations and claims” against her and former members of her board, which it said were false.

“We distance ourselves from him in the strongest terms,” the group said in a statement posted on its website, adding that several members of Atheist Refugee Relief filed a criminal complaint against him in 2019 after “the most vile slander and attacks.” verbal.”