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Outrage over ‘hate crime’ killing of Muslim students
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Police in the United States yesterday were trying to determine whether religious hatred played any role in the killing of three Muslims in North Carolina, a crime they said was sparked by a neighbor’s long-simmering row over parking and noise inside a condominium complex.
Craig Hicks, 46, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with the first-degree murder of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. The three were shot dead on Tuesday.
Neighbors said Hicks always seemed angry and often confronted them, sometimes while wearing a handgun on his hip.
His ex-wife said he was obsessed with the shooting-rampage movie “Falling Down,” and showed “no compassion at all” for other people.
The killings fueled outrage among people who blame anti-Muslim rhetoric for hate crimes. A Muslim advocacy organization pressed for an investigation into possible religious bias.
About 2,000 people attended a candlelight vigil for the victims in the heart of the University of North Carolina’s campus on Wednesday evening.
“We understand the concerns ... that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case,” Chapel Hill police Chief Chris Blue said in an e-mail.
Officers were summoned by a neighbor who called police reporting five to 10 shots and the sound of people screaming.
The women’s father, Mohammad Abu-Salha, said police told him each was shot in the head inside the couple’s apartment, and that he, for one, is convinced it was a hate crime.
“The media here bombards the American citizen with Islamic, Islamic, Islamic terrorism and makes people here scared of us and hate us and want us out,” Abu-Salha said.
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