Hate instead of mourning

Right-wing mob rages through Magdeburg’s city center

Hate and agitation in Magdeburg: instead of mourning the victims and their families, right-wing groups are using the crime for their own purposes.

(Bild: Reuters)

At the funeral service following the attack in Magdeburg on Saturday, the emergency services were thanked for their efforts. Meanwhile, neo-Nazis marched in Magdeburg. Instead of showing sympathy for the victims and their families, the act is being exploited by the right. True to the motto: what doesn't fit is made to fit.

On Friday, at 7.07 p.m., the last hate message from the driver of the killing spree, Taleb A. from Magdeburg, went online on X (formerly Twitter). He speaks English with an Arabic accent: "My name is Taleb al-A., I am a doctor, a psychiatrist, and I work in Germany," the 50-year-old introduces himself.

Between conspiracy and right-wing extremism
Critics of religion still persecute him today, he says in the video. "The nation that is actively prosecuting critics of Islam today in order to destroy their lives is the German nation." He would like to tell a story, because Socrates was also executed in ancient Greece for his criticism of religion.

As confused and bizarre as his arguments are in his specially created echo chambers on the social platform X, his motive for the crime proves to be far more complex than initially assumed and challenges even experts.

"After 25 years in this 'business', you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for tolerating Islamists - I really didn't have that on my mind," admits terror researcher Peter Neumann on X. The more he finds out about the perpetrator Taleb A., the less certain he is that this was an Islamist attack: his "Twitter profile suggests the opposite."

What we now know is that Taleb A. is probably an Arab ex-Muslim and AfD supporter who applied for asylum in Germany as a critic of Islam. The 50-year-old was questioned on Saturday and is now in custody. "He has commented on the motive for the crime," said Horst Nopens, the senior public prosecutor in charge, on Saturday afternoon in Magdeburg. "Dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi Arabian refugees" could therefore have been the background to Taleb A.'s crime.

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Fotos

Hate and agitation instead of mourning
Right-wing circles deliberately hide details in order to integrate Taleb A. into their enemy image: For them, he is an Arab seeking asylum. They propagate simple solutions where the problems are particularly complex. The fact that Taleb A. is an avowed supporter of leading right-wing extremists and has repeatedly shared their posts and racist ideologies apparently goes unnoticed on social networks.

It is half past eight in the evening, right-wing extremist slogans echo across Magdeburg's Willy-Brandt-Platz on Saturday night. "Antifa sons of bitches" and "Remigration!" shout a few young men, according to German media reports. Small groups of figures dressed in black keep arriving at the main station. Two young migrants arrive at the station and are jostled and pushed by men. Other right-wing extremists join them - police officers rush to separate the attackers from the migrants.

A user on X reports on the partially masked, right-wing extremist group in the center of Magdeburg on Saturday evening:

Hundreds of neo-Nazis were hanging around Magdeburg's main train station on Saturday evening. A right-wing extremist demonstration in the city center had previously broken up. The nationalist splinter party "Die Heimat", formerly the NPD, supported by other right-wing extremist groups, had called the demonstration in order to create a mood against migrants. According to the police, more than two thousand people gathered under the slogan "Demonstration against terror". Thorsten Heise, an activist with several criminal convictions and head of "Heimat", whipped up the crowd with inflammatory speeches.

Magdeburg must not become a playing field for right-wing agitation.

Landesnetzwerk Migrantenorganisationen Sachsen-Anhalt

"Be the other side of the same coin"
The state network of migrant organizations in Saxony-Anhalt is appalled by the political instrumentalization of the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market. "Magdeburg must not become a stage for right-wing agitation", the network declared. Employees and members of the association have already confirmed several attacks, threats and insults.

In addition to the false information circulating on X from right-wing media, which speaks of an "Islamist" attack, many users also responded: "You have more in common with the Magdeburg attacker than you want to admit. You hate this country, its values and are just the other side of the same coin."

Sport is also taking a step back these days, pausing to remember the victims. At a third division match in Essen on Saturday, a man wanted to use the silence to spread a racist slogan. The stadium responded resolutely and unequivocally with shouts of "Nazis out".

After the fatal attack with a car, the public prosecutor's office applied for an arrest warrant against Taleb A.. The car he was driving crashed at high speed into a crowd of people at Magdeburg's Christmas market on Friday evening. According to the authorities, four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 and a nine-year-old boy were killed.