Sadness and anger in Magdeburg after Christmas market attack
USEPAThe Christmas market in Magdeburg is a sad sight. This was supposed to be the busiest weekend of the season, but the entire area has been cordoned off and all the stands are closed.
The police were the only ones moving around the boarded-up mulled wine and gingerbread stand.
Red candles flickered on the sidewalks as people expressed condolences for the victims.
Lucas, the truck driver, told me he felt the need to pay his respects. “I wasn’t there when it happened,” he told me.
“But I work in Magdeburg. I’m here every day. I’ve driven by here a thousand times.”
“This is a tragedy for everyone in Magdeburg. The perpetrators should be punished.”
“We can only hope that the victims and their families find the strength to cope with this.”
There’s sadness here – but there’s also anger.
Many here consider the attack a serious lapse in security. Authorities denied this, although they acknowledged that the attackers used a route planned for emergency workers to enter the market.
Michael, who also came to pay his respects to the victims, said “there should be better security measures.”
“We should have been better prepared, but we weren’t good enough.”
Standing at the security cordon, I heard a group of locals complaining loudly about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and regional politicians.
“They’re wasting our tax dollars and they’re just looking out for themselves. They’re not interested in us. We’re just hearing empty promises,” one man said.
“They are reversing what happened here and want to put the blame on the opposition and use it for their campaign,” he said.
On Saturday night, around the same time that the square in front of Magdeburg’s Gothic cathedral was filled with mourners watching a memorial service, a demonstration took place nearby.
Protesters held banners that read “Immigration Now!” – a concept popular among the far right – and chanted “Those who don’t love Germany should leave Germany”.
It was unclear what impact the attack might have on Germany’s upcoming elections.
Germany has been hit by a number of deadly Islamist attacks in the past, but investigators say the evidence they have collected so far points to something different in this case.
German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said the suspect appeared to have “Islamophobia.”
The suspect, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, is from Saudi Arabia and his social media posts suggested he was critical of Islam.
He also expressed sympathy for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party by retweeting the party leader and a far-right activist on social media.
