Who Was the Christmas Market Attacker in Magdeburg – And Why Does His Motive Make Little Sense?

A festive Friday evening at Magdeburg’s Christmas market descended into chaos when a dark-colored BMW plowed into the crowd, injuring over 200 people and leaving at least four dead. Police quickly arrested a suspect: a 50-year-old Saudi national, later identified as Dr. Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a psychiatrist who had been living in Germany since 2006. At first glance, the incident seemed to echo past terrorist attacks on holiday markets, but this time, key details don’t quite add up—starting with the fact that the suspect publicly bills himself as an ex-Muslim, notorious for harshly criticizing Islam.

Many Germans immediately recalled the 2016 Breitscheidplatz attack in Berlin, when an Islamist extremist drove a hijacked truck into a Christmas market, killing 12 people at the scene (and ultimately 13, due to later complications) and injuring dozens more. But the Magdeburg suspect was not known to security agencies as an Islamist. In fact, his online presence reveals a bizarre mix of accusations against German authorities and a fierce hostility toward Islam. This begs the question: Why target a Christmas market if he’s so vehemently anti-Islam?

Who Is Taleb al-Abdulmohsen?

According to Minister President Reiner Haseloff (CDU), the man in custody is a medical doctor—specifically a psychiatrist—who has resided in Germany for nearly two decades. He settled in Bernburg, about 50 kilometers south of Magdeburg, where police carried out a raid on the night of the attack. Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang confirmed he holds a permanent residence permit, having first come to Germany in 2006 and received official refugee status in 2016. Reports indicate that Saudi Arabia had previously submitted multiple extradition requests to German authorities.

Local security sources say the suspect worked since March 2020 in the Bernburg Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (Maßregelvollzug). This facility treats and secures offenders with substance abuse or mental health issues. He had apparently been on law enforcement’s radar as early as 2023, when a “risk assessment” was performed; officials concluded at the time that he posed “no concrete danger.”

Anti-Islam – or Anti-Germany?

On X, al-Abdulmohsen called himself an “ex-Muslim” and claimed to be the “most aggressive critic of Islam in history.” As far back as 2019, he openly stated in interviews that he was an atheist who feared persecution in Saudi Arabia for abandoning Islam. He even founded an online network to guide Saudi asylum seekers, especially women, in their quest to escape religious and societal constraints.

Yet, if one scrolls further, he rails against the German government, accusing it of conducting secret operations against Saudi refugees. He also said that “Germany wants to Islamize Europe.”

Then there are his repeated threats of vengeance. In a series of posts, he alleges that the German police and intelligence services are “criminal” and that they have “ruined his life.” He mentions a stolen USB stick and other conspiracies aimed at proving that Germany is out to get him. One English-language video posted on the same Friday night as the attack shows him blaming “the German nation” for what he calls his persecution and asserting that he will seek revenge.

“If Germany Wants War, We Will Have War”

Throughout 2023 and 2024, al-Abdulmohsen escalated his online rhetoric. Screenshots preserved by other users show him threatening violence, claiming that “all peaceful means have been exhausted.” In August 2024, he wrote in Arabic:

“I assure you: If Germany wants war, we will have war. If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die, or go to prison with pride. Because we have tried every peaceful avenue and have only encountered more crimes by the police, state security, prosecutors, judges, and the Ministry of the Interior. Peace is of no use to them.”

In another deleted post from December 2023—reported by one X user to the German newspaper WELT—he stated:

“I assure you that revenge is coming, 100%. Even if it costs me my life. Germany will pay the price—a huge price.”

Why a Christmas Market?

What puzzles many is the target itself. Attacking a Christmas market has a certain historical resonance in Germany, one that’s inevitably tied to Islamist terror since the 2016 Berlin attack. But if al-Abdulmohsen truly hates Islam and sees himself as an atheist persecuted by Muslims in Saudi Arabia, it doesn’t logically follow that he would ram his car into a market that represents a Christian or at least a secular holiday tradition.

Some observers suggest he was less motivated by religious ideology and more by personal vendettas against what he called “German society.” His rage appears multi-directional: He disdains Islam, yet simultaneously despises Germany for Islamizing Europe and for failing to protect him. In his eyes, the entire German state seems complicit in a grand conspiracy, making any crowded German event a potential stage for retaliatory violence

Past Warnings – Official Oversight?

German authorities are already facing tough questions about how someone with such a public track record of threats slipped through the cracks. State officials confirm that the local State Criminal Office (LKA) and the Federal Criminal Office (BKA) assessed him in 2023 and found “no concrete danger.” The local Office for the Protection of the Constitution was also involved but conducted no independent inquiries.

Despite the reinforced barriers, concrete blocks, and heightened police presence introduced in many German Christmas markets since the 2016 Berlin attack, the suspect in Magdeburg still managed to drive his BMW into the crowd. Countless questions remain unanswered, yet one fact is clear: Germany’s government and its security agencies failed, once again, to protect their citizens.