Germany probes Christmas market attack warnings

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said investigators looking into the Christmas market car-ramming attack in Magdeburg would also examine how authorities had responded to earlier warnings about the suspected attacker.

Five people, including a 9-year-old boy, were killed and about 200 injured on Friday night when a car plowed into a crowd at the eastern German city's Christmas market.

Several hundred people gathered on Sunday for a vigil at Magdeburg's Johanniskirche (St. John's Church), the city's main place of mourning.

Police haven't publicly named the suspect, a Saudi doctor and resident in Germany since 2006, who had reportedly previously made online death threats.

"Germany's Federal Criminal Police (BKA) is supporting the investigations by the authorities in  Saxony-Anhalt," Faeser told Bild am Sonntag.

"The investigating authorities will clear up all the background. They are also investigating exactly what information has already been provided in the past and how it was followed up," she said.

Warnings of a potential threat

On Saturday, Germany's Office for Migration and Refugees said it received a tip-off last year about the man accused of attacking the Christmas market.

The warning was received through social media in 2023 and relayed to the appropriate investigative authorities at that time.

"This, just like any of the many other indications, was taken seriously," the migration office said.

According to Der Spiegel news magazine, the Saudi secret service had previously warned its German counterparts about the suspected attacker on several occasions.

Despite this, Die Welt newspaper reported that a risk assessment by German state and federal police last year concluded the suspect posed "no specific danger."

BKA President Holger Münch told the German public broadcaster ZDF the man had various contacts with authorities during which he made insults and sometimes threats, "but he was not known for acts of violence."

Münch described him as an "atypical perpetrator."

In trouble with the authorities

Describing himself as a former Muslim and a Saudi dissident, the suspect was an enthusiastic user of the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

There he posted anti-Islamic views, criticized German authorities and expressed support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

In one instance, he wrote on social media: "Is there a path to justice in Germany without blowing up a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens? ... If anyone knows it, please let me know."

He has had legal problems in the past. In 2013, a court in Rostock fined him for "disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes," according to Der Spiegel.

This year, he was investigated in Berlin for "misuse of emergency calls" after he argued with police at a station.

The suspect was arrested shortly after Friday's attack and faces charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday.

It was still too early to determine a definitive motive for the crime, authorities added.

Political debate about security

Bernd Baumann, the parliamentary head of the far-right AfD, called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to convene a special session of the Bundestag regarding the "desolate" security situation, stating that "this is the least we owe to the victims."

Meanwhile, the head of the far-left BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht, demanded that Interior Minister Nancy Faeser explain "why so many tips and warnings were ignored beforehand."

The conservative Christian Democrats, and the Free Democrats, formerly part of the coalition government, called for enhancements to Germany's security apparatus, including improved coordination between federal and state authorities.

Rainer Wendt, chairman of the DPolG police union, however, warned against speculating, "Now is the time for the investigators so the amateur police officers could hold back for once."

lo/sms (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)