Two senior U.S. officials familiar with the matter identified al-Abdulmohsen as the suspect.
He has aligned himself with far-right movements such as Germany’s anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, while praising figures like Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders.
Police have not released a motive in the Christmas market attack, but two senior U.S. officials told NBC News authorities are investigating whether the incident is terrorism-related.
In 2019, al-Abdulmohsen told the newspaper FAZ that he left Islam in his early 20s after pretending he was still a Muslim.
He had previously reposted the tech billionaire, who expressed his support for AfD last week, writing on X: “Only the AfD can save Germany.”
Persons:
Taleb, ”, Geert Wilders, “, —, Alice Weidel, Angela Merkel, Abdulmohsen, Wilders, Adolf Hitler’s “ Mein, Islam, Elon Musk
Organizations:
Police, U.S, NBC, NBC News, ”, Party for Freedom, Twitter, Secular Refugees, Secular Refugee
Locations:
Saudi Arabia, Magdeburg, Berlin, Germany, “ Germany, Europe, Dutch, Bernburg, Saudi