Christmas market copycat attacks fear: German police arrest man threatening knife rampage days after five people were run over and killed – and say others may be planning similar slaughter
German police have arrested a man threatening a knife rampage at a Christmas market days after five people were run over and killed.
The man, from northern port city Bremerhaven, was arrested on Sunday after he threatened a knife attack on the city’s Christmas market in widely shared footage, according to German tabloid Bild.
‘On December 25, I’ll go to the Christmas market here in Bremerhaven and will stab anyone who looks Arabic or southern. Anyone. I’ll take enough knives,’ the man said in the video.
‘This is not a joke. I’ll stab anyone who looks Arabic. This finally needs to end here in Germany. I don’t have any relatives, I live alone, I am alone – I could just as well be dead or in prison.’
The man was quickly identified as 67-year-old pensioner and arrested by police in the city centre of Bremerhaven, after they assured concerned residents reporting the video that ‘further measures have already been initiated’.
Police said there was ‘no danger to the public’ and the local prosecutor said in a statement today that a psychiatric examination concluded that the man was not a danger to himself or others.
This comes as German federal police published a risk assessment document on the dangers of copycat attacks after Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, rammed his SUV into a packed Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg around 7pm on Friday, killing nine-year-old André Gleißner and four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75.
The risk assessment, seen by Bild, was sent to government agencies all over Germany and warns that ‘possible sympathisers’ and ‘free riders’ could ‘commit similar acts’.
‘There is a fundamental danger from irrational or emotionally motivated perpetrators acting alone and the associated possibility of unpredictable actions, especially at public events,’ they added.
People look at flowers and candles left as a tribute near the ‘Alter Markt’ Christmas market, where a man drove a car into the crowd through an emergency exit route on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, December 22, 2024
Firefighters patrol the scene of the crash on Friday after a car rammed into a massive crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Magdeburg at around 7pm
Police arrested an ‘unstable’ 50-year-old Saudi doctor identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen after he allegedly rammed his SUV into a packed market in the town of Magdeburg
Federal police also said that people could be ‘exploiting’ the attack to ‘support their own (political) goals’.
The warning comes as Al-Abdulmohsen was remanded in pretrial custody on Saturday night after prosecutors pressed charges of murder on five counts, multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, according to a police statement.
Social media accounts falsely alleged al-Abdulmohsen was an Islamist terrorist shortly after the attack, but the German interior minister later identified the suspect as being Islamophobic himself.
A harsh critic of Germany’s past welcome too many Muslim migrants, al-Abdulmohsen wrote on the platform X that he wished ex-chancellor Angela Merkel could be jailed for life or executed.
In 2015, Merkel implemented an ‘open door’ policy, which allow over a million asylum seekers to cross the border into Germany.
The exiled Saudi attacker had praised hard-Right politicians for combating the ‘Islamisation’ of Europe and pledged to take ‘revenge’ over harassment of female refugees.
Al-Abdulmohsen had voiced support for Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson and Alternative for Germany, the hard-right anti-immigration party, trying to build connections to hard-right organisations in Germany and the UK.
Musk reposted a tweet by Nigel Farage which blamed the Christmas market attack on border policies.
Tensions in Magdeburg were running high on the weekend when around 700 hard-right demonstrators gathered on Saturday night, with people holding a banner with the word ‘Remigration Now’ and so-called homeland flags.
Al-Abdulmohsen was pictured in a white t-shirt (right) as he arrived at court Saturday night, where he was remanded on charges of murder, attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm
Nine-year-old André Gleißner (pictured) was killed during Friday night’s devastating attack
A man mourns at the memorial site for the victims of the Christmas market attack on Friday
Al-Abdulmohsen drove his SUV into the packed Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday night
A woman holds a candle as others watch a prayer ceremony outside the Magdeburg Dom church, the day after the devastating attack
The Saudi suspect, psychiatrist and anti-Islam activist al-Abdulmohsen, had made online death threats against German citizens and had a history of quarrelling with state authorities
The protesters, described by German tabloid Bild as right-wing extremists and hooligans, marched through Magdeburg shouting: ‘Anyone who doesn’t love Germany should leave Germany’, ‘Migration kills’ and ‘We must take back our cities, our villages and our homeland’.
Some of the demonstrators reportedly wore masked and were aggressive, resulting in minor scuffles with police.
A known neo-Nazi called Thorsten Heise reportedly stirred up the crowd by yelling: ‘Deport, deport, deport’ and ‘Resistance’.
The masked protestors who waved anti-immigration posters and shouted chants of ‘migration kills’ were escorted by hundreds of police in full riot gear as they marched through the city.
‘Among the demonstrators were many extremely violent far-right groups from across Germany. Many of them were masked,’ said Oliver Kreuzfeld, an expert on the far-right scene from Endstation Rechts, an initiative against extremism based in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Kreuzfeld observed the demonstration and identified members of violent neo-Nazi groups known for past violent attacks on trains. They also included members of long-established groups, like the Neonazi Kiez in Dortmund.
An expert has now warned that right-wing groups could attempt to exploit the tragic incident for their own ends.
Matthias Quent, Professor of Sociology at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, told EuroNews: ‘The region in general, eastern Germany, is a hotspot of far-right mobilisations.
People hold a sign reading ‘Remigration now!’ during a protest after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market, in Magdeburg, Germany December 21
Hard-right demonstrators take part in a protest after a car drove into the crowd at the market
People take part in a protest after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market, in Magdeburg
‘And we are facing election campaigns until the federal elections in February.
‘And so this is not just a critical time because of Christmas and the trust that gets destroyed by such an attack but, also, regarding questions of disinformation and polarisation and the spread of hate that will and could happen over these kinds of attacks now.’
As the surging AfD party seeks to rally support in the run-up to Germany’s snap federal election, the chair pointedly asked ‘When will this madness end?’
Tempers are strained after it was revealed police were warned about the ‘unstable’ suspect in September last year, but did nothing more than take screenshots of his twisted online threats.
Local outlet Die Welt reported that German state and federal police had carried out a ‘risk assessment’ on al-Abdulmohsen last year but concluded that he posed ‘no specific danger’.
The Saudi suspect, psychiatrist and anti-Islam activist al-Abdulmohsen, had made online death threats against German citizens and had a history of quarrelling with state authorities.
News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany’s spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which al-Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a ‘price’ for its treatment of Saudi refugees.
And in August al-Abdulmohsen 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.’
Tributes to the victims of the devastating attack are seen near the market on December 22
Public workers clean the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday morning, December 22, 2024
The sign at the Johanniskirche near the now closed Christmas market reads You are never alone on December 23, 2024 in Magdeburg
Clothes and blankets lie on chairs at the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, December 22, 2024
Stall holders at the now closed Christmas market clean their shop front on December 23, 2024
In a post in December last year, he wrote: ‘Germany is the only country – other than Saudi Arabia – that chases female Saudi asylum seekers all over the world to destroy their lives.
‘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.’
Police who arrested him almost immediately after the attack said he tested positive for drugs.
The 50-year-old was brought before a judge on Saturday evening, and police said: ‘The judge ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm.’
The prosecutor said that the medic’s grievance about how Germany was treating Saudi dissident asylum seekers was part of the investigation as a possible motive.
Al-Abdulmohsen had bypassed security bollards and used an emergency corridor – which should have been blocked for anything other than ambulances and police vehicles – to enter the market.
Hospital staff rallied around the 205 victims of the attack, with 120 nurses and more than 20 doctors voluntarily putting in extra shifts that tragic to treat those who were hurt.
He launched his attack just after 7pm local time in Germany, as thousands of shoppers gathered at the centre of Magdeburg.
Driving slowly at first, the blue SUV turned in to an alleyway where hundreds of shoppers were browsing stalls and sipping mulled wine.
He then pointed his vehicle directly at the crowd and ploughed forward. As shoppers fled in panic, the driver turned another corner and drove out of the market.
An off-duty policeman pursued the BMW until he came to a halt outside Magdeburg shopping centre, where he was arrested at gunpoint by armed officers.
