Getty Pictures“I feel bad, I still do,” stated Eidwicht, as she stood within the Christmas market near the spot the place the automotive sped via on Friday, killing 5 folks and injuring greater than 2 hundred others.
“My granddaughter was here. I rang her because my daughter told me that something had happened here. And she didn’t answer for two hours.”
There may be deep disappointment right here – and anger directed on the authorities and migrants. “It can’t go on like this,” stated Eidwicht.
A Saudi refugee aged 50 has been arrested for the assault however the motive is unknown.
Officers say Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, was an “untypical” attacker. Germany’s Christmas markets and festivals have come beneath assault earlier than, primarily from excessive Islamists.
He has been described as crucial of Islam and he additionally voiced help on social media for the far-right Different for Germany get together, hailing the get together for preventing the identical enemy as him “to protect Germany”.
The AfD has not commented on these posts. The get together held a rally in Magdeburg afterward Monday the place co-leader Alice Weidel known as for change “so we can finally live once again in security”. The gang responded with calls of “deport them” in keeping with information companies.
Her get together is at present using excessive within the opinion polls forward of federal elections on 23 February, particularly in states like Saxony-Anhalt within the former East Germany.
This assault has introduced two huge elections points to the fore, safety and immigration, and AfD figures have highlighted each because the assault.
Regardless of the suspect’s many statements expressing hostility to Islam, the top of the AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, Martin Reichardt, stated in an announcement “the attack in Magdeburg shows that Germany is being drawn into political and religious fanaticism that has its origins in another world”.
In a publish on X, Weidel stated the federal government’s dialogue of recent safety legal guidelines following the assault “must not distract from the fact that Magdeburg would not have been possible without uncontrolled immigration. The state must protect its citizens through a restrictive migration policy and consistent deportations!”
ReutersA counter-demonstration additionally came about, with anti-racism teams accusing the AfD of exploiting the assault.
David Begrich from Miteinander e.V. stated folks within the metropolis wanted an opportunity to catch their breath.
“In the migrant communities, there is great concern about being made into a scapegoat,” he stated. “We don’t want that. We want to organise solidarity across society, but at the same time we are also sensitive to the voices of those who are now reacting with fear and uncertainty.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a plea for nationwide unity, saying “a dark shadow hangs over this Christmas”.
“Hatred and violence must not have the final word. Let’s not allow ourselves to be driven apart. Let’s stand together!” he stated.
Germans are asking how the assault might have occurred, when safety was already heightened at Christmas markets and when authorities had clearly investigated the suspect a number of instances lately.
The menace he posed was thought of “too unspecific”, in keeping with one evaluation, whereas one tip-off in opposition to him in September 2023 seems to have fallen via the cracks.
In one other obvious safety failing, the driving force was additionally capable of get via a spot that had been left open for emergency entry when it ought to have been crammed by a police van.
Stallholders on the Christmas market have now been allowed to return again, to throw away previous meals and take away their tools and shares.
None that I approached wished to talk to the BBC. It is all too uncooked.
There has additionally been hostility in direction of journalists over the previous few days, particularly after some 2,000 folks joined a protest by the far proper in Magdeburg on Saturday evening.
The Affiliation of German Journalists stated there had been aggression and threats in opposition to the press and appealed for better police safety.
The BBC staff joined mourners gathered in Cathedral Sq. for a dwell stream of the vigil for victims of the assault and lots of who spoke to them stated it was essential to indicate solidarity at a time of horrible misery.
However one girl struck a word of warning. There are “some Nazis here, who don’t like journalists,” she stated. “Please be careful.”
