Real estate brothers Oren and Alon Alexander remain in custody on sex trafficking and rape charges

MIAMI (AP) — Prominent real estate broker Oren Alexander and his twin brother Alon will remain in custody following their initial court appearance in Miami on Friday.

The brothers had sought bond on charges of sex trafficking and gang rape. But federal prosecutors argued that they were a flight risk and a danger to the community. Judge Ellen D’ Angelo set a Dec. 30 detention hearing.

The judge read each brother the charges they faced and informed them of their rights.

Last week, another judge in Miami rejected a $115 million bail package proposed by their older brother Tal Alexander that would have allowed all three men who are prominent in luxury real estate in Florida and New York to be released pending trial in New York City.

The brothers were charged last week in New York with luring, drugging and violently raping dozens of women over more than a decade. Alon and Oren Alexander also face state charges in Florida stemming from three alleged sexual assaults.

All three Alexander brothers will remain in custody in Florida. They have denied the allegations, saying through their attorneys that any sex was consensual.

Oren and Tal Alexander are known for brokering deals on high-end properties in New York City and Miami for clients that included Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Liam Gallagher, and Lindsay Lohan. In 2022, they started a new real estate company called Official.

Alon Alexander attended law school and joined the family’s private security business.

This photo provided by Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department shows from left, Alon Alexander and Oren Alexander, both have been charged with sex trafficking, according to a federal indictment unsealed in New York on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department via AP.

Oren Alexander, 37, center, and his twin brother, Alon, center-right, speak to their attorney Joel Denaro during their bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)

Alon Alexander, 37, right, and his twin brother, Oren, left, attend their bond hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)

Oren Alexander, 37, attends his bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)

BERLIN (AP) — A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, injuring an unknown number of people in what authorities say was a suspected attack.

The driver of the car was arrested, German news agency dpa reported, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act.

Reif said there were “numerous injured,” but he didn’t give a precise figure.

“The pictures are terrible,” he said. “My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far.”

Magdeburg’s University Hospital said it was taking care of 10 to 20 patients but was preparing for more, dpa reported.

The sounds of sirens from first responders clashed with the market’s holiday decorations, including ornaments, stars and leafy garland festooning the vendors’ booths.

Footage from the scene of a cordoned-off part of the market showed debris on the ground.

“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas," Saxony-Anhalt governor Reiner Haseloff said. Haseloff told dpa that he was on his way to Magdeburg but couldn’t immediately give any information on victims or what was behind the incident.

Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”

Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents.

The suspected attack came eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On Dec. 19, 2016, an Islamic extremist plowed through a crowded Christmas with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.

Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)

Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)

Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)