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Far-right party holds 'remembrance' rally for victims of car attack that reignites debate over migrant and security policy.
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party held what it called a “memorial” rally for the victims of a car attack at a Christmas market that heated debate on migrants and security policy.
The rally was held on Monday outside the cathedral in the eastern city of Magdeburg, scene of last week's attack killed five people and left over 200 injured.
“Terror has arrived in our city,” said Saxony-Anhalt AfD leader Jan Wenzel Schmidt, condemning what he called a “monstrous political failure” that led to the attack, for which a Saudi national was arrested.
“We have to close the borders,” he told hundreds of supporters of the anti-immigrant party. “We can no longer accept crazy people from all over the world.”
Party co-chair Alice Weidel described the attack as “an act of an Islamist full of hatred for what constitutes human togetherness… for us Germans, for us Christians.”
She demanded “change so we can finally live in safety again,” as people in the crowd chanted, “Deport, deport, deport!”
The suspectTaleb al-Abdulmohsen, faces multiple charges, including murder and attempted murder. He lives in Germany since 2006. and had previously made anti-immigrant and anti-Islam social media posts, according to reports.
Although the motives have not yet been made public, Abdulmohsen expressed strongly anti-Islamic views, anger at German authorities over immigration policy. He also vocally supports far-right conspiracy theories about the “Islamization” of Europe.
Despite the suspect's expressed views, which are in line with the AfD's anti-immigrant stance and Islamophobic rhetoric, Weidel called him an “Islamist” at the rally – an attempt to support the party's anti-immigrant views.
Friday's attack sparked a political debate over migration policies ahead of early elections in February, in which the AfD hopes to increase its position in parliament.
Interior Minister Nancy Feiser said “no stone will be left unturned” in disclosing available information about the 50-year-old suspect, who has been treated for mental illness in the past, according to German newspaper Die Welt.
Meanwhile, an anti-extremist initiative called “Don't Give Hate a Chance” also gathered in Magdeburg. “We are all shocked and angered to see that people want to use this cruel act for their own political purposes,” the initiative said in a statement.
