German police investigating market attack security and warnings
Grief and anger are boiling in Magdeburg after an attacker used an access lane for emergency vehicles to get into a Christmas market, killing five people and injuring hundreds.
On a visit on Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, ministers and regional political leaders were heckled by members of the public, with some angry at what they criticized as a security lapse.
German authorities have defended the layout and safety of the market.
Officers are also facing questions after reports that they were warned about the suspect last year, with police saying they had assessed a year earlier whether the culprit might be a potential threat.
The suspect has been ordered held in pre-trial detention and faces charges of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Usually at this time of year, German city centers are packed with shoppers and wine-drinking revelers, but this year the mood is very different.
The main Christmas market has been cordoned off with tape and surrounded by police vans as armed officers patrol nearby shops and malls.
There is sadness in the air in Magdeburg, but also bewilderment and anger, as people ask how this could happen.
When Scholz and his colleagues emerged from the besieged market during their visit on Saturday, they were met with booing, shoving and chants of “Hou now”, a highly aggressive form of “Get lost”.
Some people appeared angry over the alleged security lapse. Others appeared angry and irritated with Germany’s political leaders in general.
Security at Christmas markets across Germany has been stepped up since a similar attack in Berlin in 2016, when a man drove a lorry into market crowds, killing 12 people.
Open-plan Christmas markets now have some sort of barrier around them – usually large concrete blocks, which is the case in Magdeburg.
However, the gap in the barriers was large enough to allow emergency vehicles to pass.
City official Ronnie Krug told reporters at a press conference Saturday that emergency responders need an evacuation route in case of a “traditional” emergency, and all relevant agencies have approved the plan.
“The concept of safety and security must, on the one hand, protect people coming to an event as much as possible, but at the same time, it must also ensure that if something happens, they are able to leave the site safely and quickly ” , He said.
“Maybe this is something that couldn’t have been prevented,” he said.
German media reported that the suspect had been warned of potential danger before the attack.
The suspect, a Saudi Arabian doctor named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, came to Germany in 2006 and was recognized as a refugee in 2016.
An atheist, he ran a website aimed at helping other former Muslims escape persecution in their Gulf countries. His social media was filled with anti-Islam sentiment and conspiracy theories.
At Saturday’s press conference, Magdeburg police chief Tom-Oliver Langhans said that police had evaluated whether the perpetrator could be a potential threat, “but this discussion took place a year ago”.
He said the investigation into the suspect’s past was ongoing and declined to comment further.
It is believed that one of the tip-offs came from the suspect’s home country, Saudi Arabia.
A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC that it sent four official notifications, known as “Notes Verbale”, to German authorities, warning them of what they said were al-Abdulmohsen’s “very extreme views”. .
However, a counter-terrorism expert told the BBC that the Saudis were probably running a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who had tried to help young Saudi women seek asylum in Germany.
Asked Saturday whether Saudi Arabia had issued a warning, Langhans said he did not have information.
Later, the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Munch, told public broadcaster ZDF that his office had received a notice from Saudi Arabia in November 2023. He said local police took appropriate investigative measures, but the case was not specific.
He said the suspect “had various contacts with officers, insulted them and made threats, but he was not known for violent acts”.
Previous investigations will need to be revisited, Munch said.