Christmas market copycat attacks fear: German police arrest man threatening knife rampage days after five people were run over and killed - and say others may be planning similar slaughter
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German police have arrested a man threatening a knife rampage at a Christmas market days after five people were run over and killed. The man, from northern port city Bremerhaven, was arrested on Sunday after he threatened a knife attack on the city's Christmas market in widely shared footage, according to German tabloid Bild.
![[Firefighters patrol the scene of the crash on Friday after a car rammed into a massive crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Magdeburg at around 7pm]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/07/93383083-14218489-Firefighters_patrol_the_scene_of_the_crash_on_Friday_after_a_car-a-5_1734853967128.jpg)
'On December 25, I'll go to the Christmas market here in Bremerhaven and will stab anyone who looks Arabic or southern. Anyone. I'll take enough knives,' the man said in the video. 'This is not a joke. I'll stab anyone who looks Arabic. This finally needs to end here in Germany. I don't have any relatives, I live alone, I am alone - I could just as well be dead or in prison.'.
![[Police arrested an 'unstable' 50-year-old Saudi doctor identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen after he allegedly rammed his SUV into a packed market in the town of Magdeburg]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/07/93396573-14218489-image-a-2_1734853943679.jpg)
The man was quickly identified and arrested by police in the city centre of Bremerhaven, after they assured concerned residents reporting the video that 'further measures have already been initiated'. Police said there was 'no danger to the public'. This comes as German federal police published a risk assessment document on the dangers of copycat attacks after Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, rammed his SUV into a packed Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg around 7pm on Friday, killing nine-year-old André Gleißner and four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75.
![[Al-Abdulmohsen was pictured in a white t-shirt (right) as he arrived at court Saturday night, where he was remanded on charges of murder, attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/12/93399489-14218751-Al_Abdulmohsen_was_pictured_in_a_white_t_shirt_as_he_arrived_at_-m-21_1734871651235.jpg)
The risk assessment, seen by Bild, was sent to government agencies all over Germany and warns that 'possible sympathisers' and 'free riders' could 'commit similar acts'. 'There is a fundamental danger from irrational or emotionally motivated perpetrators acting alone and the associated possibility of unpredictable actions, especially at public events,' they added.
![[Nine-year-old André Gleißner (pictured) was killed during Friday night's devastating attack]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/11/93398643-14218489-image-a-1_1734865858165.jpg)
