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11 Feb 2015

Chapel Hill murder of three young Muslims triggers web anger

Despite public outrage over a possible hate crime, police in the US state of North Carolina say the fatal shooting of three young Muslims may have been prompted by an ongoing dispute over parking.

Victims of the Chapel Hill shooting

The three victims, 23-year-old dental student Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad, and her sister 19-year old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, were shot dead in a quiet neighbourhood near the University of North Carolina on Tuesday.

Officers from the Chapel Hill police department have charged their neighbour 46-year old Craig Stephen Hicks, who handed himself in, with three counts of first-degree murder.

‘Senseless and tragic’

Police spokesman Lt Joshua Mecimore said “our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbour dispute over parking. Hicks is co-operating with investigators.”

In a later press release, Chief Chris Blue said “Our investigators are exploring what could have motivated Mr Hicks to commit such a senseless and tragic act. We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.”

The mayor of Chapel Hill, Mark Kleinschmidt, spoke of his shock and outrage, adding in a statement “I do recognise the fear that members of our community may feel. Chapel Hill is a place for everyone, a place where Muslim lives matter.”

Social media anger

Hick’s Facebook profile picture reads “Atheists for Equality”, and he frequently posts quotes critical of religion.

As news of the murders spread, so did the Twitter hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter, with many criticising the lack of coverage of the crime by the mainstream media. In a tweet, Reem Abdellatif said “US media silence on death of 3 Muslim youth continues to send message that American Muslims are not equal citizens.”

Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said “based on the brutal nature of this crime, the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case.”

Tributes

A Facebook page called “Our Three Winners” was created to honour the victims, who were all involved in charity work.

According to the page, Deah had worked with United Muslim Relief to give dental treatment in a mission to the Holy Land, and his wife Yusor had carried out similar work in Turkey in summer 2014. She had been due to start her studies at UNC School of Dentistry in August 2015.

A webpage set up by Deah and a friend to raise funds for Syrian Dental Relief, to brings dental treatment to Syrian refugee schoolchildren in Turkey had raised $54,249 – well over its $20,000 target, as a result of publicity about Deah’s murder.

Deah and Yusor got married in December 2014.

Dean and Yusor's wedding photo

A vigil is planned for Wednesday night.