Police were still puzzling over why the driver, whom they believe to be a Saudi man who posted anti-Islam views, smashed a rented SUV at high speed into a crowd of revelers, killing five and sowing chaos.

Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, had expressed anti-Islamic views and described himself as a Saudi dissident, an official said.

Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg. Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist,

Police in Magdeburg reported scuffles at a far-right demonstration attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night, while other residents took part in somber remembrance events.

The suspect in the deadly car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market showed signs of mental illness, making the incident even harder to prevent, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Monday.

The German city of Magdeburg was in mourning Saturday over a car-ramming attack that brought death and carnage to its Christmas market, but the sorrow gave way to anger when the politicians showed up.

Billionaire Elon Musk, set to join U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration as an outside adviser, on Friday called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to resign in response to a deadly attack at a German Christmas market.

German security and intelligence chiefs faced questioning Monday about the car-ramming attack that killed five people and wounded more than 200 at a Christmas market 10 days ago.