Shooting of 3 North Carolina Muslims Raises Hate Crime Questions
The recent killing of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has sparked concerns over possible hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S.
Police are currently investigating whether religious hatred played a role in the recent deaths of three young Muslim Americans living in Chapel Hill. Deah Shaddy Barakat, a 23-year-old dental student at the University of North Carolina, his wife, Yusor Mohammad, and his younger sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were shot to death in their apartment this week by neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, allegedly over an ongoing dispute regarding a parking space.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, Muslim advocacy groups are calling on Chapel Hill police to investigate the recent shooting as a hate crime. Barakat's other sister, Suzanne Barakat, also issued a statement calling for police to "investigate these senseless and heinous murders as a hate crime."
Some officials are categorizing the recent crime as senseless, but not going so far to say it was a targeted attack on Muslims.
According to the New York Times, Ripley Rand, the United States attorney for Chapel Hill, described the shooting as "an isolated incident" and "not part of a targeted campaign against Muslims."
Hicks' estranged wife, Karen, who was in the process of getting a divorce from her husband, also released a statement saying the killings were not religiously-motivated.
"This incident had nothing to do with religion or the victims' faith, but in fact was related to the longstanding parking disputes that my husband had with the neighbors," Karen Hicks said.
