The video reports on the tragic incident at the Magdeburg Christmas Market, where a nine-year-old boy named Andre Gleissner and four women were killed by a car driven through the crowds. The driver, Taleb Al Abdul Mohsen, a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia, is in custody facing multiple charges. His motives are unclear, but he has expressed critical views on Islam in past social media posts. The market has been reopened, but the somber atmosphere remains as the community mourns the victims.

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. critical [ˈkrɪtɪkəl] - (adjective) - Expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgments. - Synonyms: (censorious, judgmental, disapproving)

His motive remains unclear, but his social media posts appear to suggest that he had been critical of Islam.

2. somber [ˈsɒmbər] - (adjective) - Dark or dull in color or tone; gloomy. - Synonyms: (gloomy, mournful, dismal)

This is a very somber atmosphere here in the market.

3. fundraiser [ˈfʌndˌreɪzər] - (noun) - An event held to collect money for a cause. - Synonyms: (benefit, charity event, collection)

...local NGOs have launched a fundraiser to give money to the victims and their families.

4. remanded [rɪˈmændəd] - (verb) - Placed on custody; sent back into custody. - Synonyms: (detained, incarcerated, imprisoned)

And while he's been remanded in pre trial custody...

5. conspiracy theories [kənˈspɪrəsi ˈθɪəri:z] - (noun) - Beliefs that certain events or situations are secretly manipulated by powerful groups. - Synonyms: (secret plots, hidden agendas, covert schemes)

That is, individuals who take pieces and bits of other extremist ideologies and build their own rather bizarre worldviews, mostly based on conspiracy theories

6. pretrial [ˈpriːˈtraɪəl] - (adjective) - Relating to the period before a trial is conducted. - Synonyms: (preliminary, preceding the trial, preliminary hearing)

And while he's been remanded in pre trial custody...

7. radicalization [ˌrædɪkəlaɪˈzeɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of causing someone to adopt extreme political or social positions. - Synonyms: (extremism, fanaticism, radicalism)

But this type of radicalization that it doesn't really fit into a clear ideological mold anymore...

8. islamophobe [ɪsˈlæməˌfoʊb] - (noun) - A person having a fear, dislike, or prejudice against Islam or Muslims. - Synonyms: (anti-Muslim, Islam-hater, anti-Islam)

And now as it turns out, he's actually an islamophobe himself.

9. milieu [ˈmɪljəː] - (noun) - A person's social environment. - Synonyms: (environment, setting, atmosphere)

Of course, the right wing extremist milieu, both in Germany and Austria started posting...

10. re-migration [ˌriːˌmaɪˈɡreɪʃən] - (noun) - The process or policies of facilitating the return of migrants to their country of origin. - Synonyms: (reverse migration, return migration, back-migration)

...calling for re migration.

André Gleißner named as nine-year-old killed in Magdeburg Christmas market attack - BBC News

The nine year old boy who died in an attack at the Magdeburg Christmas Market has been named. Andre Gleissner's identity was confirmed by the fire department who said he had been a member of the children's fire brigade in the town of Varle, around an hour's drive from Magdeburg.

This is the scene live at Magdeburg Market, which appears to have been reopened as you can see, and people are walking amongst the stalls. Andre was one of five people who were killed. The identities of the other four who were all women, haven't been made public. More than 200 other people were injured when they were struck by a car driven through the crowds.

The man held by police following the incident, Taleb Al Abdul Mohsen, has been charged with five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder and has been detained in custody. He's a doctor from Saudi Arabia and his motive remains unclear, but his social media posts appear to suggest that he had been critical of Islam.

Bethany Bell has the latest from Magdeburg. We have seen pictures of Andre, the nine year old boy who died here in Magdeburg's Christmas Market, which is now open to the public again. His mother in a post on Facebook wrote, he was only with us for nine years on this earth. I will promise to keep you in my heart, to remember you. And she said, I can't understand this. We know that the other victims were all women between the ages of 45 and 75.

And the what we understand here is that local NGOs are have launched a fundraiser to give money to the victims and their families. This is a very somber atmosphere here in the market. It's only just been opened again to the public. People are coming here to the site where this horrible attack took place. Bethany Bell in Magdeburg.

Well, our correspondent Anna Foster has been in Bernberg today, the hometown of the suspect. This is where he lived for almost 20 years after coming from Saudi Arabia to Germany back in 2006. This is a fairly small, quiet town. It's got its own little Christmas market of its own actually, which is very, very quiet this afternoon just in the center of the square. This is a place where he worked as a psychiatrist and the town from which he traveled to Magdeburg on Friday evening.

Now, what we are learning more about all the time is about him as an individual, not just about his work and home life in this town here, but also about his views and often in his own words. Now, back in 2019, Talib Al Abdulmosin was interviewed by the BBC. And he talked about what he did here in Germany, not specifically about his work, but about what he did in his free time. My name is Taleb. I'm from Saudi Arabia. I'm an activist. I created a website to help people seeking asylum, especially from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, if I have time. Five years ago, Talib Al Abdul Mohsen described how he spent his free time helping people.

90% of people who approach me are women between 18 and 30 years old. Now he's been charged with killing five people at Magdeburg's Christmas market, speeding a powerful car through the packed alleys between the stalls, causing terror and panic. He was arrested at the scene. This video showing armed police telling him not to move from the ground.

He made the journey to Magdeburg from this quiet town where he lives, Bernberg, around 25 miles away. And more detail is coming to light about his background and his views. He came to Germany from Saudi Arabia nearly 20 years ago and works at this clinic as a psychiatrist. Ulrike's relative is being treated here. She was shocked when she heard the link. Yes, I was very shaken. It's horrified. It's terrible. It makes me sad. It makes my whole family is very sad and everything I know is sad.

From his home on this peaceful street, Talib Al Abdul Mohsen built an online presence which will be key to the police's investigation. In 2019, he spoke to a German newspaper about what he called his activism, telling them, I'm history's most aggressive critic of Islam and just ask any Arab if you don't believe me. Attention is now turning to safety and security, whether this market was protected enough and whether authorities had any warnings that Talib Al Abdulmosin may have posed a threat.

Germany is waiting for the answers. And as people lay those fresh flowers again in Magdeburg this afternoon, there are lots of questions, as I was saying there, that people want answers to, no doubt, particularly about how this could have happened, about what was known about the man's background, what conversations may have happened, perhaps in the security services in Germany, but also simpler questions, as I was saying there, about how these Christmas markets are protected.

There have been attacks at Christmas markets before, notably in Berlin back in 2016. So people had a certain expectation of safety and security when they went to a place like this. But the police have really talked about their investigation, released some more of those details yesterday. But they have said that they are still looking into potential motive. Although this body of evidence and background and Talib Abdulmosin speaking actually in his own words, what they don't know is what drove somebody to go to the Christmas market to target German families enjoying a night out just a few days before Christmas.

And while he's been remanded in pre trial custody and those charges have been brought, the police say there is still a lot that they want to be doing in their investigation just to really try and line up what might have happened here and why. Anna Foster in the hometown of the suspect Bernberg.

Well, for more on the profile of the suspect, I've been speaking with Dr. Hans Jakub Schindler, who's a senior director at the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin. It really doesn't fit any particular mould of the classical extremist ideologies that we know. Islamists, right wing extremists and left wing extremists.

It's really an expression of what we have seen since the Corona pandemic, when more life and more of the social life really transferred online. That is, individuals who take pieces and bits of other extremist ideologies and build their own rather bizarre worldviews, mostly based on conspiracy theories. And this is really a clear example that even these rather wacky theories can have deadly consequences.

Do you think this reflects a wider trend? Do you think there are more people out there who have this particular mix of conspiracy theories potentially and views? Is this being pushed by a wider force? Well, I mean, this particular view of the perpetrator, that's certainly something quite unique. But this type of radicalization that it doesn't really fit into a clear ideological mold anymore, that is definitely a trend that is far more widespread.

It's also far more widespread because of the way that social media works. These algorithms really promote content that is hateful, divisive. If someone goes down the rabbit hole of advertising, these algorithms actually support that process by giving him or her more and more of the same material, more extreme material. It's really hard to get out of this by yourself.

Do you think this is likely to have any consequences on German politics? For sure. I mean, the discussion, of course, already started. We have these kind of levels of security where at each stage something that was in itself maybe not that significant went wrong, but in combination led to this disaster. Or, you know, the question, what happened with the warnings of the Saudi government?

What were they about? The question, what happened with the warnings from the public, from people who knew him? Why weren't they looked at? What happened with the security assessment they did in 2023 prompted by some of the warnings which of course, at that time correctly said he's not on a present in immediate danger. But why wasn't it repeated in 2024?

And then finally, of course, why on earth were there any access to the Christmas market for any other car but a police car and an ambulance? Of course you need escape routes, but these need to be closed off to other cars. So there is a lot that needs to be discussed immediately. Of course, the right wing extremist milieu, both in Germany and Austria started posting the night of the address of the attack.

First when everyone, including myself, still thought this is an Islamist attack, really Islamophobic things. And now as it turns out, he's actually an islamophobe himself. They immediately switched to the migration debate. And while the commemorative service was going on last night in Magdeburg, some right wing extremists staged a demonstration in Magdeburg calling for re migration.

So of course these extremist currents and some more extreme political parties are trying to take advantage of this. Hans Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project.

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