“We can rule out that the Magdeburg perpetrator was a member of the AfD” said the “Rheinische Post” to Daniel Tapp, the party’s speaker. “Even a membership application never existed” he added.

According to media reports, the suspect, a man from Saudi Arabia, expressed sympathy for the AfD on social media and had sought cooperation with the party. Moreover, the man, who was convinced of a secret Islamization of Germany, held the federal government and the former Chancellor Angela Merkel directly responsible for this, as reported.