The Magdeburg incident provides fertile ground for the far right.

Eidwicht remarked, “I feel horrible, I still do,” while she was in the Christmas market near the location where the automobile, which killed five people and injured over two hundred others, raced through on Friday.

“My granddaughter was present. My daughter told me nothing had happened there, so I called her. And it took her two hours to respond.

Here, there is great grief and resentment toward the government and immigrants. When Eidwicht replied, “It can not go on like this,”

An unidentified motive for the attack has led to the arrest of a 50-year-old Saudi refugee.

Authorities claim that Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen was an “untypical” assailant. Extremist Islamists have already attacked Germany’s Christmas markets and celebrations.

In addition to expressing support on social media for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which he has characterized as critical of Islam, he praised the party for fighting the same enemy as him “to safeguard Germany.”

The national party head, Alice Weidel, will be attending the AfD’s procession of grief in Magdeburg later on Monday. The party has not responded to those posts.

Ahead of the federal elections on February 23, her party is now leading the polls, particularly in states like the former East Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt.

AfD leaders have emphasized immigration and security following the assault, which has lifted these two major election topics to the forefront.

Martin Reichardt, the leader of the AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, stated in a statement that “the incident in Magdeburg illustrates that Germany is being lured into political and religious fanaticism that has its origins in another planet,” despite the suspect’s numerous utterances expressing animosity toward Islam.

Following the incident, the government’s debate over new security regulations “must not detract from the fact that Magdeburg would not have been conceivable without unrestrained immigration,” Weidel wrote in a post on X. Consistent deportations and a tight immigration policy are necessary for the state to safeguard its citizens.

There will also be a counter-demonstration, and anti-racism organizations in Magdeburg have charged that the AfD is taking advantage of the incident.

According to David Begrich of Miteinander e.V., the city’s residents needed a moment to relax.

He stated that “there is significant fear among the migrant populations about being made into a scapegoat.” “That is not what we want. We are sympathetic to the voices of people who are currently responding with dread and uncertainty, but we also want to organize solidarity throughout society.”

Germans are wondering how the incident could have occurred given that Christmas markets were already more secure and that the suspect had been the subject of multiple investigations by authorities in recent years.

According to one evaluation, his threat was “too unspecific,” and a tip-off against him in September 2023 seems to have slipped through the cracks.

Another apparent security lapse occurred when the driver managed to enter via a gap that should have been closed by a police van but was left open for emergency access.

Now, Christmas market vendors are free to return, discard their used food, and take down their supplies and equipment.

I asked around, but none of them wanted to talk to the BBC. Everything is too uncooked.

In recent days, there has also been animosity toward journalists, particularly after 2,000 people participated in a far-right demonstration in Magdeburg on Saturday night.

There have been threats and acts of violence against the press, according to the Association of German Journalists, which also called for more police protection.

When the BBC team joined the mourners in Cathedral Square for a live stream of the attack victims’ vigil, several people who talked to them felt it was crucial to demonstrate unity during such a difficult time.