A collection of killings of Muslim males in New Mexico has despatched a wave of worry via Muslim communities throughout the US.
Authorities recognized the fourth sufferer on Monday, and haven’t dominated out the likelihood that the murders of a number of Muslim males within the metropolis of Albuquerque may very well be linked.
Three of the killings occurred within the final week, and authorities have stated that the race and faith of the victims had been frequent components. “Investigators imagine Friday’s homicide could also be related to a few latest murders of Muslim males additionally from South Asia,” police stated. Police have requested residents to assist discover a automobile they imagine is related to the killings.
“I’m angered and saddened by the horrific killings of 4 Muslim males in Albuquerque,” Biden stated on Twitter on Sunday. “Whereas we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ households, and my administration stands strongly with the Muslim group. These hateful assaults haven’t any place in America.”
I’m angered and saddened by the horrific killings of 4 Muslim males in Albuquerque. Whereas we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ households, and my Administration stands strongly with the Muslim group.
These hateful assaults haven’t any place in America.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 7, 2022
Naeem Hussain was killed Friday night time, and ambush shootings have killed three different Muslim males within the final 9 months. The murders have change into a supply of worry for Muslims all through the US, who’ve confronted racism, discrimination, and violence.
“The actual fact the suspect stays at giant is terrifying,” Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim group chief in New York, wrote on Twitter. “Who’s subsequent?!”
Hussain, 25, was from Pakistan. His loss of life got here shortly after these of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, who had been additionally from Pakistan and members of the identical mosque.
The earliest case befell in November and concerned the killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, from Afghanistan.
Aneela Abad, normal secretary on the Islamic Heart of New Mexico, stated the group was “utterly shocked” by the killings, and Islamic group centres have elevated safety.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Muslim civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has stated that Muslim communities within the US will reply to the killings with “vigilance, elevated warning, resilience”.
CAIR has supplied a $10,000 reward to the one that supplies info to regulation enforcement resulting in the arrest of the killer.
The identical automobile is suspected of being utilized in all 4 homicides — a darkish gray or silver four-door Volkswagen that seems to be a Jetta or Passat with tinted home windows, in response to police. Authorities launched pictures asking folks to assist establish the automobile and supplied a $20,000 reward for info resulting in an arrest.
“We have now a really, very sturdy hyperlink,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller stated Sunday. “We have now a automobile of curiosity … We have now received to seek out this automobile.”
If in case you have any details about this automobile of curiosity within the killings of 4 Muslim males in Albuquerque, please contact Albuquerque Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP (505-843-7867) or at https://t.co/86w3giuqkW
This group deserves justice, and we should and can ship it. https://t.co/N6r1Uez0vK
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) August 7, 2022
The state’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stated in a press release on August 6 that further regulation enforcement assets had been being made accessible for the investigation.
“We is not going to cease in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their households and are bringing each useful resource to bear to apprehend the killer or killers,” the assertion stated. “And we WILL discover them.”
Lujan Grisham additionally supplied assist to the state’s Muslim group. “We are going to proceed to do all the pieces we are able to to assist the Muslim group of Albuquerque and higher New Mexico throughout this troublesome time,” she stated. “You’re New Mexicans, you might be welcomed right here, and we stand with you.”
