Close to the anniversary of a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, a similar attack occurred in the city of Magdeburg, less than two hours from the German capital. A 50-year old Saudi-born man, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, drove his car through the bollards at the city's market, crashing through crowds of people, killing at least five, including a 9-year old child, and injuring at least 200 more, many of them seriously.
Al-Abdulmohsen is a Saudi citizen who has been living in Germany since 2006, where he worked as a psychologist. His ideology is unclear, but it appears that he has Islamophobic beliefs, having himself left Islam. According to social media posts, he blamed immigration and Islam for increasing violence in Germany. His social media presence also suggested that he was a vocal supporter of the ultranationalist Alternativ fur Deutschland (AfD).
Following the attack, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and anti-immigrant extremists reacted on social media, with many blaming immigration for the attack, and spreading misinformation about the perpetrator.
The following report will highlight reactions to the attack from social media including Gab, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter), and more.
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German And Austrian Extremists React To Attack; Call For Mass Deportations
A German news and publishing platform on Telegram posted a video from a citizens' protest following the terrorist attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market on Friday. The channel wrote: "Organized as non-partisan, but supported by the strong forces of [a German neo-Nazi party] and its youth organization [redacted], a rally followed by a mourning march was held on Saturday, December 21, 2024, one day after the terrible terrorist attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg under the banner 'Against Terror.' The attack, carried out by an Arab man who had been living in Germany since 2006, a doctor and psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia, killed five and injured over 200, at least 40 of them seriously. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had rejected an extradition request from Saudi Arabia and the security authorities had ignored indications of the attack plans and public pronouncements by the attacker."
The leader of an Austrian white supremacist movement posted a photo of Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsin, the suspect in the December 20 Magdeburg Christmas market terrorist attack, after he was apprehended. Al-Abdulmohsin is a Saudi national with permanent residency in Germany. The photo has a quote from al-Abdulmohsin reading: "Germany will be paying the price for it." He wrote: "The Magdeburg terrorist Al Abdul hated Islam, but he hated Germans more. He could have driven his car into a Muslim street festival or a demonstration by Syrian al-Qaeda supporters. He could have carried out an attack on the Saudi embassy, or a radical mosque, or left-wing pro-Islam NGOs (all of which would have been terrible too). But Abdul chose the most German thing he could think of as his target; a traditional Christmas market with German families. It was anti-German terrorism. Abdul was a result and an actor of the asylum industry. Remigration would have prevented it."
A pan-European white supremacist group posted a message calling for mass deportations from Germany following the attack on the Christmas market. The channel wrote: "Magdeburg? Remigration. With remigration, Magdeburg wouldn't be a graveyard! Year after year, another German city becomes a site of murder during its Christmas market. A migrant drives into a crowd of people—just as eight years and one day ago at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin —and slaughters countless people. Our activists have taken a stand in front of the German embassy in Vienna: Magdeburg? Remigration. These people should not be dead, and no one else has to die. Every politician in Europe who does not call for remigration may not have been behind the wheel during the attack, but they are to blame for the murders. We deserve a normal life, we deserve our Christmas markets, and we have suffered enough. As an NGO, we have been fighting against this suffering for years."
Global Neo-Nazis And White Supremacists Spread Misinformation About The Attack And Its Perpetrator
The Romanian antisemitic ultranationalist channel posted a blurred video of a crowd of people dancing to rock music and chanting, "Ausländer Raus!" (German: "Foreigners Out!"). The music was performed by an ultranationalist rock band. The channel wrote: "[Ultranationalist band] - hooligan rock. We stand with MAGDEBURG! In Magdeburg, Germany, an Arab drove a car into people at the Christmas market. Two people have died so far, including a 9-year-old child, and 60 others are injured. We stand with the German locals in mourning."
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