A man suspected of driving a┬аcar into a German Christmas market in an attack that killed at┬аleast five people and injured scores of others faces charges of┬аmurder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday, after the┬аman was remanded in custody.
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Police in the central city of Magdeburg, where the attack┬аhappened on Friday, also reported scuffles at a far-right┬аdemonstration attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night,┬аwhile other residents took part in sombre┬аremembrance events.
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The suspect is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who has┬аlived in Germany for almost two decades.
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A magistrate ordered the man┬аinto pre-trial custody after prosecutors pressed┬аcharges of murder on five counts, multiple counts of attempted┬аmurder and grievous bodily harm, according to a police┬аstatement.
It identified the dead as a nine-year-old boy and four adult┬аwomen, aged 52, 45, 75 and 67.
German authorities have not named the suspect, who has┬аpermanent resident status in Germany, and local media reports do not┬аgive his full name in keeping with local privacy law. International media, including BBC News and the Guardian, however, are identifying the accused as┬аTaleb al-Abdulmohsen.
The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim. It is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion, while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamification of Europe.” He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Police reported scuffles at a protest attended by around┬а2,100 people on Saturday night, one day after the attack.┬аRight-wingers had billed the gathering on messaging app Telegram┬аas a “demonstration against terror.”
Protesters wearing black balaclavas could be seen holding a┬аlarge banner with the word “remigration,” a term popular with┬аfar-right supporters seeking the mass deportation of migrants┬аand people deemed not ethnically German.
The motive in Friday night’s attack remains unclear.┬а
