Elon Musk says Magdeburg Christmas market slaughter would not have happened if hard-right AFD were in power in Germany - after attack suspect tweeted his support for worlds richest man
Elon Musk has claimed the attack on a Christmas market in Germany would not have happened if hard-right political party AfD were in power.
Elon Musk has claimed the attack on a Christmas market in Germany would not have happened if hard-right political party AfD were in power.
The billionaire Tesla boss retweeted a post on X by a German activist claiming only the AfD would have prevented Fridays attack which saw at least five people killed after a car rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg.
The perpetrator was believed to be a 50-year-old psychologist, who arrived in Germany in 2006 as a refugee from Saudi Arabia. He was arrested on Friday evening at the site of the attack.
In the hours after the horrific massacre, right-wing extremist AfD activist Naomi Seibt shared a video of herself on X criticising the German governments stance on immigration.
During the three minute video, Seibt said: If any of the establishment parties would have listened to the AfDs request to close the borders and to start enforcing deportations, this would not have happened.
Musk later reposted the tweet, claiming what Seibt was saying was true.
The X boss and close Trump ally also shared a number of unsubstantiated posts claiming the German government supposedly had the opportunity to deport the attacker back to Saudi Arabia, but failed to do so.
Analysis of the suspects social media shows he made several posts in support AfD, while he has also made comments supporting Musk himself.
Bild reported that the car was driven at least 400m (1,300ft) across the Christmas market, per a police spokesperson
A bigger police presence today in Manchester after the atrocities in Germany
Manchester Christmas markets
The attacker described himself as a former Muslim and shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.
He also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he said was the Islamism of Europe.
In a post in December 2023, Abdulmohsen wrote: Germany is the only country – other than Saudi Arabia – that chases female Saudi asylum seekers all over the world to destroy their lives.
He wrote: Revenge will come soon. Even if it costs me my life. I will make the German nation pay the price of the crimes committed by its government against Saudi refugees.
Other posts include retweets of graphic videos, including one of a young Muslim woman purportedly being stoned to death because she had an affair with a young man outside of marriage.
He wrote on August 21: Is there a path to justice in Germany without bombing a German embassy or slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately? I have been looking for this peaceful way since January 2019 and I have not found it. If anyone knows it, please guide me.
In videos posted hours before the attack, he claimed that German authorities were opening his mail and stealing items including a USB stick.
I consider the Germans, as citizens, responsible for the persecution I am facing he said in one video.
Currently in this country, the nation that is actively criminally chasing Islam critics is the German nation, he said in another.
He also appears to be a fan of AfD. In June, he retweeted party leader Alice Weidel, writing with typos: The left are crazy. We need the AfD to protect the police from them.
He also retweeted the right-wing extremist AfD activist Naomi Seibt with the following quote: Tyranny is based on the docility of cowards. I choose to be brave.
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen on Saturday morning following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany
Emergency personnel stand next to a damaged car that drove into a group of people, according to local media, in Magdeburg, Germany, December 21, 2024
A police officer walks at the site where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market in Magdeburg on Saturday morning
Police officers walk through the streets in the aftermath of the crash on Saturday morning
A mourner lights a candle near the site of the crash on Saturday morning
Police guards the entrance to the closed Christmas market where a car rammed into a crowd
He was arrested following the crash which took place at 7:04pm in the city of Magdeburg, according to unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt who spoke to the dpa news agency.
A search of his name and details of his work revealed he was interviewed by the Frankfurter Rundschau, a regional newspaper, in 2019
He came to Germany as a visiting doctor during his specialist training as a psychotherapist and later applied for asylum here because he had been threatened with death for turning away from Islam. The 44-year-old is recognized as a political refugee, the newspaper wrote of him five years ago.
In the Frankfurter Rundschau interview, he described his work with the wearesaudis.net website, a group dedicated to providing information on escape routes for people living in Saudi Arabia, particularly women.
His plight to help asylum seekers settle in Europe was also documented in a 2019 interview with the BBC World Service, in which it was revealed he was forced to leave his home country due to his atheism.
If I have time, I spend, you know, totally helping Saudi asylum seekers between 10 to 16 hours a day, if I have time, he told the broadcaster at the time.
He also explained how most people who approached him for help through his website were Muslim women seeking to escape their strict families.
Firefighters work at a cordoned-off Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg
Officers standing guard outside the entrance to the christmas market on Saturday morning
Overturned wheelie bins and debris are seen as police officers walks through the closed christmas market in Magdeburg
Police and firefighters walk at a cordoned-off Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening
A stretcher and a pile of clothes lies at the site where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market
Police officers walks through a closed Christmas market where a car crashed into a crowd injuring more than 60 people
Just five days before carrying out the attack, the suspect gave an interview with the right-wing RAIR Foundation in which he said: If a Syrian citizen applies for asylum in Germany, the chance to be granted asylum is 99.8%…
While if a Saudi citizen applies for asylum in Germany, that chance is only 70%, and I know personally that many of those rejected are ex-Muslims.
Germany is welcoming Syrians—including many Islamists—while simultaneously rejecting Saudi apostates, people who are genuinely fleeing Sharia-based death sentences.
Since news of the attack spread around the world, RAIR said in a statement: If these reports are accurate, it appears we and other media outlets were misled regarding his true intentions. We are actively seeking more information and will provide updates as they become available.
No official motive for the attack has been identified by police.
As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city, Saxony-Anhalts governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters.
Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.
A Saudi source told Reuters news agency that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker following his posts on X.
Local media reported that police raided his home in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg. Authorities added that he appears to have rented the car shortly before the attack.
Police officers take security measures after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany on December 20, 2024
Special police officers at the scene after a car was driven into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 20 December 2024
This is the moment the alleged Saudi perpetrator of the horrific Christmas market car smash was arrested with an explosive device after he drove through a massive crowd
Police vans and ambulances stand next to the annual Christmas market in the city center following a possible terror incident on December 20, 2024 in Magdeburg, Germany
The initial death toll from the horrific attack on Friday evening had stood at two, but this has since risen to five, according to German newspaper Spiegel.
Bild, another local news site, reported that 41 others were gravely injured, 86 people are receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries, while another 78 sustained minor injuries. Police were not immediately available to comment on casualties.
Eighty-six people are receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries incurred in the incident on Friday evening in the central city, while another 78 sustained minor injuries, the report said.
Police were not immediately available to comment on casualties. Local officials had initially said it least two people were killed and had warned that the toll could rise.
The black BMW tore through the traditional market in the centre of Magdeburg, southwest of Berlin on Friday night.
Police said the vehicle drove at least 400 metres across the Christmas market leaving behind destruction, debris and broken glass on the citys central town hall square.
Horrific video footage showed countless revellers fleeing for their lives in the wake of the crash. Separate footage showed children crying loudly as several small crowds of people formed over those injured in the crash, in apparent attempts to help them.
One man who spoke to German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung said the Christmas market has turned to war-like conditions, while another eyewitness told the newspaper that there were countless families in the fairytale area of the market when the car crashed through the crowd.
The Magdeburg Christmas market is located on the Old Market, directly next to Magdeburg Town Hall near the River Elbe, and was closed by organisers following the incident.
Organisers have also asked people to leave the city centre, while several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburgs loss.
Local media reported that police raided the attackers home in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg
Special police forces stand in front of an apartment building that is believed to be connected to the Christmas market attacker
Crime scene tape hangs at the site where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market
A police vehicle stands at the site where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market
On Saturday morning, residents went to the Johanneskirche church, just opposite the market, to lay candles in tribute to the victims.
Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act.
The pictures are terrible, Reif said. My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I cant yet say from what direction and how far.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser were due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening.
Scholz expressed his concern in the wake of the attack in a post to X, writing: The reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
In a post to X, Germanys interior minister said: The news from Magdeburg is deeply shocking. The emergency services are doing everything they can to care for the injured and save lives.
Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. The security authorities will clarify the background.
Saxony-Anhalts Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff said in the wake of the attack: This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas.
A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. Johns Church opposite the Christmas market
Cuddly toys, flowers and candles have all been laid in tribute to those killed and injured in the attack on Friday
Police officers stand at a barrier at Magdeburgs Christmas market on Saturday
People lay flowers and candles at the memorial site at St. Johns Church in Magdeburg
Police officers walk at the cordoned-off Christmas Market on Saturday morning
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Magdeburg on Saturday to pay tribute to the victims of Fridays attack.
His Social Democrats are trailing both the far-right AfD and the frontrunner conservative opposition in opinion polls ahead of snap elections set for February 23.
The AfD has led calls for a crackdown on migration to the country.
Its chancellor candidate Alice Weidel and co-leader Tino Chrupalla issued a statement on Saturday condemning the attack.
The terrible attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in the middle of the peaceful pre-Christmas period has shaken us, they said.
A leading member of Scholzs Social Democrats in the Bundestag parliament warned against jumping to conclusions and said it appeared the attacker did not have an Islamist motive.
Robert Habeck, Germanys vice-chancellor, said in a post to X: What terrible news from Magdeburg, where people wanted to spend the Advent season in peace and community.
My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I thank all the emergency services on site who are doing everything they can to help and to clarify the background.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Magdeburg on Saturday to pay tribute to the victims of Fridays attack
Scholz visits a Christmas Market where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening along with Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff (left), and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (second from left)
An emergency blanket is seen among debris and closed stalls on the site of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz walks through the site of the crash in Magdeburg on Saturday
The aftermath the morning after Fridays attack at a christmas market in Magdeburg
CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wrote on X: This is very depressing news from Magdeburg. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I thank all emergency services who are caring for the injured on site.
The world has already begun reacting to the horrific news.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote on X: I am horrified by the atrocious attack in Magdeburg tonight.
My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected. We stand with the people of Germany.
The Government is in contact with German authorities, the Foreign Office said, and is closely monitoring the situation.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was appalled by the news from Magdeburg and offered support to his German counterpart.
Saudi Arabia, where the attacker was from, said in a statement on X: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias condemnation of the run-over incident that occurred in a market in the city of Magdeburg in the Federal Republic of Germany, which resulted in the death and injury of a number of people, expressing its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims.
The Kingdom affirms its position in rejecting violence, and expresses its sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and to the Federal Republic of Germany, government and people, while wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
The UKs Foreign Office, meanwhile, said it was closely monitoring the situation,;
A spokesperson said: We are in contact with the German authorities following an incident in the city of Magdeburg and are closely monitoring the situation.
Our thoughts are with all those affected.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.
