The Saudi doctor arrested for the depraved and deadly car attack on a Christmas market in Germany has been identified as an anti-Islam activist, according to reports.
The man — Taleb A., according to a report from The Guardian — fled to Germany as a Saudi Arabian refugee in 2006 and gained official refugee status in 2016.
The 50-year-old left his home country due to its Islamic government and settled in Bernburg, where he worked as a doctor and psychotherapist after receiving his permanent status, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He was prominent in the Saudi community in Germany as an anti-Islam and women’s rights activist — running a website and social media channels dedicated to those causes, the Journal reports.
On his website, he warned prospective refugees to eschew Germany due to what he perceived as the government’s tolerance of radical Islam.
The man also posted pro-Israel content in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attack and was a supporter of Germany’s rightwing anti-immigration party AfD, the newspaper reported.
In social media posts days before the attack, the suspect criticized the German government, claiming it was promoting the European nation’s Islamization, and also alleged authorities were censoring him because of his views, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Taleb A. is accused of plowing his car through a crowded Christmas market in Madgeburg, injuring dozens and killing at least 2, including a small child, in what authorities are calling a suspected terror attack.
Police operations remain ongoing in Magdeburg and Bernburg, where the suspect lives, The Guardian reports.
The attack comes one day after the anniversary of the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people and injured 56 in the deadliest terror attack in German history.
