3 Muslim students shot to death in apartment near UNC Chapel Hill

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CNN:

Saeed Ahmed, CNN

February 11, 2015

 

(CNN)A 46-year-old man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of three Muslim students in an apartment near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.

 

Police haven't said what may have compelled the accused, Craig Stephen Hicks, to allegedly carry out the attack Tuesday evening. He turned himself in to police later in the night.

 

But given the victims' religion and comments the alleged shooter apparently left on a Facebook page, many social media users wondered what role, if any, the victims' faith played.

 

The victims were Muslims: Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19.

 

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Blatant Rightwing Islamiphobia Meme Alert.

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Killer of 3 NC Muslim Students Was Hardcore Anti-Religion Atheist Progressive

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged in the triple homicide. **UPDATED** Police statement says parking dispute behind incident

Patrick Poole

Feb 11 2015

 

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[UPDATE: Chapel Hill police are now saying the shooting may be related to a parking dispute with no connection to the victims' religion. Thanks to tarheelkate in the comments.]

 

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H/T Daily Caller & TOS

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Can A Liberal Commit a Hate Crime?

John Hinderaker

February 12, 2015

 

In North Carolina, a middle-aged man named Craig Hicks murdered three young Muslim students who lived in his apartment complex. Hicks was known as an angry man who had frequent confrontations with his neighbors. Local police initially said that the murders appeared to have arisen out of a dispute about parking spaces at the complex. But inevitably, given that the victims were Muslims, the question was raised: was this a hate crime? CNN, for example, tweeted early yesterday morning:

 

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So far, the news media have been more cautious than might have been expected about labeling the murders an anti-Islamic hate crime. They have publicized the fact that Hicks is an aggressive atheist; the main theme of his Facebook page is a contempt for religion. There is little, however, that is specifically anti-Muslim. The overwhelming majority of his comments on religion, to the extent they identify a specific faith, are anti-Christian. If his victims had happened to be Christians, would the murders make national news, and would anyone be talking about hate crimes?

 

I suspect that the principal reason for the news media’s reticence with regard to the Hicks case is not that he is an equal opportunity atheist. Rather, I suspect they are concerned about the fact that Hicks is a liberal. This has not been widely reported, for obvious reasons. Instead, some news sources have quoted this Facebook statement: “Some call me a gun toting Liberal, others call me an open-minded Conservative.” In fact, however, apart from the fact that he likes guns, there is nothing conservative about Hicks. Here are some of his Facebook posts and “likes”:

 

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Palestinians want role in probing 'terrorist' killings of Chapel Hill Muslims
RAMALLAH, West Bank Sat Feb 14, 2015

(Reuters) - The Palestinian government on Saturday condemned as "terrorism" the killings of three young Palestinian-Americans in North Carolina and called on U.S. authorities to include its investigators in the probe.

Police have charged a neighbor with Tuesday's shooting in the town of Chapel Hill of Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, saying the incident followed a dispute over parking.

But investigators said they were also looking into whether the suspect, Craig Stephen Hicks, was motivated by hatred toward the victims because they were Muslim.

Branding Hicks "an American extremist and hateful racist", the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the incident suggested a rise in dangerous discrimination against American Muslims.

"We consider it a serious indication of the growth of racism and religious extremism which is a direct threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of American citizens who follow the Islamic faith," the ministry said in a statement.

It called for "a serious investigation and the involvement of Palestinian investigators to clarify the circumstances of these assassinations and premeditated murders" in Chapel Hill.

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