Environmental Protection AgencyThe Christmas market in Magdeburg is a sad sight. This was supposed to be the busiest weekend of the season, but the entire area was cordoned off and all stands closed.
The police are the only people milling around the covered wine and gingerbread stalls.
On the sidewalk, red candles flash in honor of the victims.
Lucas, the truck driver, told me he felt compelled to come 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 driven here a thousand times.”
“It is a tragedy for everyone here in Magdeburg. The perpetrator must be punished.”
“We can only hope that the victims and their families find the strength to deal with it.”
There is sadness here, but there is also anger.
Many people here see this attack as a security blunder. This is a claim that authorities reject, although they acknowledge that the attacker entered the market using a planned route for emergency responders.
“There should have been better security,” said Michael, who also came to honor the victims.
We should have prepared better but it wasn't done right.”
While standing at the security cordon, I heard a group of local residents complaining loudly about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and regional politicians.
One man said: “They are wasting our tax money. They only care about themselves. They are not interested in us. We only hear empty promises.”
“They are changing what happened here and want to blame the opposition and use it in their election campaign,” he said.
On Saturday evening, at the same time that the square in front of Magdeburg's Gothic Cathedral was filled with mourners watching a memorial service, a demonstration took place nearby.
The demonstrators carried a sign that read, “Back now!” “Those who do not like Germany should leave Germany,” he shouted – a popular concept among the far right.
It is not yet clear the extent of the impact of this attack on the upcoming German elections.
Germany has been subjected to a number of deadly attacks by Islamists in the past, but investigators said that the evidence they have collected so far points to a different picture in this case.
German Interior Minister Nancy Weiser said the suspect appeared to be suffering from “Islamophobia.”
The suspect, Talib Al-Abdul Mohsen, is from Saudi Arabia, and his social media posts indicate he was criticizing Islam.
He also expressed sympathy on social media for Germany's far-right political party, Alternative for Germany, which retweeted tweets from the party's leader and a far-right activist.
