Sadness and anger in Magdeburg after Christmas market attack

The Christmas market in Magdeburg is a sad sight. It was supposed to be the busiest weekend of the season, but the whole area was cordoned off and all the stands were closed.

Only the police walk around the boarded-up stalls with mulled wine and gingerbread.

Red candles flicker on the pavement in memory of the dead.

Lucas, a truck driver, told me he felt compelled to come to pay his respects. “I wasn’t there when it happened,” he told me.

“But I work here in Magdeburg. I’m here every day. I’ve passed here a thousand times.”

“This is a tragedy for everyone here in Magdeburg. The culprit must be punished.”

“We can only hope that the victims and their families find the strength to deal with this.”

There is sadness here – but there is also anger.

Many people here see this attack as a terrible security breach. It’s a claim authorities reject, although they have admitted the attacker entered the market using a route planned for emergency services.

Michael, who also came to pay tribute to the victims, said “there should be better security”.

“We should have been prepared better, but it wasn’t done properly.”

Standing at the cordon, I heard a group of local residents loudly complaining about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and regional politicians.

“They’re wasting our tax money, they’re just looking out for themselves. They are not interested in us. We only hear empty promises,” said one man.

“They are twisting what happened here, they want to blame the opposition and use it for their election campaign,” he said.

On Saturday evening, around the same time as the square in front of Magdeburg’s Gothic cathedral was filled with mourners watching the memorial service, a demonstration took place nearby.

Protesters held a banner reading “Remigration now!” – a concept popular among the far-right – and shouted “those who don’t like Germany should leave Germany”.

It is not yet clear what effect this attack may have on the upcoming German elections.

Germany has been the subject of a number of deadly Islamist attacks in the past, but investigators said the evidence they have gathered so far suggests a different picture in this case.

German Interior Minister Nancy Feiser said the suspect was an “Islamophobe”.

The suspect, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, is from Saudi Arabia and his social media posts suggest he was critical of Islam.

He also expressed sympathy on social media for Germany’s far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), retweeting posts from the party leader and far-right activist.