Magdeburg Attack Fuels Far-Right Momentum Despite Suspect’s AfD Support

Eidwicht remarked, “I feel bad, I still do,” while she was in the Christmas market near the location where the automobile, which killed five people and injured over two hundred others, raced through on Friday.

“My granddaughter was present. My daughter informed me that anything had happened here, so I called her. And it took her two hours to respond.

Here, there is a great deal of grief as well as resentment toward the government and immigrants. When Eidwicht replied, “It can’t go on like this,”

Although there is no known motivation for the incident, a 50-year-old Saudi refugee has been apprehended.

Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen was described by officials as a “untypical” attacker. Extremist Islamists have already attacked Germany’s Christmas markets and celebrations.

On social media, he expressed sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, praising it for fighting the same enemy as him “to protect Germany.” He has also been accused of being disparaging of Islam.

On those posts, the AfD has not offered any commentary. Later on Monday, Alice Weidel, the party’s co-leader, urged for reform “so we can finally live once again in security” during a rally in Magdeburg. “Deport them” was the crowd’s response, news organizations said.

Ahead of the federal elections on February 23, her party is now leading the polls, particularly in states like the former East Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt.

Security and immigration are two major electoral topics that have been brought to light by this assault, and AfD leaders have emphasized both ever since.

Martin Reichardt, the leader of the AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, said in a statement that “the attack in Magdeburg shows that Germany is hostile to Islam despite the suspect’s numerous statements to that effect.”