Sadness and anger in Magdeburg after Christmas market attack

Magdeburg’s Christmas market is miserable. This is supposed to be the busiest week of the season, but the whole area is closed and all the places are closed.

The police are the only people walking around the wine and gingerbread shop.

Along the way, red candles are lit, paying tribute to the victims.

Lukas, who was a truck driver told me that he was forced to come to pay his respects. “I wasn’t there when it happened,” he told me.

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

“It’s sad for everyone here in Magdeburg. The culprit must be punished.”

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

There is sadness here – but there is also anger.

Many people here see the attack as a terrible loss of security. This is something that the authorities deny, although they have admitted that the attacker entered the market using a route designed for emergency responders.

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

“We could have planned better but this did not go well.”

Standing on the security balcony, I heard a group of locals complaining loudly about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and regional politics.

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

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

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

The protestors held a sign that read “Emigration now!” – a popular opinion in the center of the right – and shout “those who don’t like Germany leave Germany”.

It is not yet clear how the attack will affect the upcoming elections in Germany.

Germany has been hit by a series of anti-Muslim attacks in the past, but investigators said the evidence they have found so far paints a different picture.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the suspect appeared to be “Islamophobic”.

The suspect, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, is from Saudi Arabia, and his social media posts show that he is against Islam.

He also expressed his grief on the radio of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), echoing tweets from the party’s leader and far-right activist.