THOUSANDS JOIN FUNERAL FOR SLAIN MUSLIMS IN NORTH CAROLINA

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BY EMERY P. DALESIO AND MICHAEL BIESECKER

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The fathers of three young Muslims allegedly slain by a neighbor who was angry over parking spots stood before their caskets Thursday and urged a crowd of thousands to protect others by demanding justice.

More than 5,000 people came to the funeral of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, who were killed Tuesday in the couple's Chapel Hill apartment.

A self-described "gun toting" atheist with a reputation for bullying his neighbors, Craig Stephen Hicks, turned himself in and was jailed on first-degree murder charges.

Chapel Hill police said they are investigating whether religious or ethnic hatred motivated Hicks in any way, and federal investigators said hate crimes haven't been ruled out. The FBI also announced Thursday that it has "opened a parallel preliminary inquiry to determine whether any federal laws were violated."

FULL story at link.


Female mourners gather for the funerals of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his 21-year-old wife of less than two months, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha; and her 19-year-old sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, at the Method Road Soccer Complex Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, on the North Carolina State campus in Raleigh, N.C. The three were shot to death Tuesday, Feb. 10, in what police described as a long-standing argument over parking spaces at the condominium complex where Barakat had lived for more than a year. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Corey Lowenstein)

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_THREE_KILLED_NORTH_CAROLINA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-12-18-33-26

[Joanie Baloney]

1. And yet, he killed her

"Barakat's family was from Syria, although he was born in the U.S. Yusor Abu-Salha was born in Jordan and came to the U.S. with her family as a young girl. In an interview recorded last year as part of the StoryCorps project and broadcast by North Carolina Public Radio on Thursday, she expressed gratitude for her adopted homeland.

"Growing up in America has been such a blessing," she said. "And, you know, although in some ways I do stand out, such as the hijab I wear on my head, the head covering, there's still so many ways I feel so embedded in the fabric that is our culture. That's the beautiful thing here, is that I doesn't matter where you come from. There are so many people from so many different places, of different backgrounds and religions. But here we're all one - one culture."

Tragic.

[RationalMan]

2. When I look at the photo of the three of them I see such hope for the future....

they aren't angry at the world. They aren't planning a bombing mission. They aren't thinking about how to destroy their community or nation.

They are hopeful young American Musims. The husband had planned next summer to travel to Turkey with dentists to provide badly needed dental care to Syrian refugees.

His wife was to enroll in the UNC dental program next year.

3 promising lives snuffed out by a Hicks, a man who, whether or not did this over parking or because they were Muslim, is scum. I hope they uphold the fullest extent of the law on him. I am opposed to the death penalty but hope he lives out his days in prison always asking himself why he did the horrible things he did.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Put it to bed, this had only collaterally to do with a parking spot, look at the timelines. And the targets.

And rampant Islamaphobia in certain segments of America.

The FBI will soon be involved if they are not already....too bad the Republicans held up the nomination for Loretta Lynch for AG for no apparent reason....or consequence to them.

[99th_Monkey]

4. I am SO happy to hear this. Best news I've heard in quite awhile.

I hope this murderous "gun toting" scumbag is watching all this from his jail cell

If I lived anywhere near, I'd be there in a NY minute.

[KoKo]

5. It is a sad/devastating event....makes us Dig In and Think Further....

There's no easy explanation or Media Spin that can deal with this tragedy, imho. It is just too sad for anything but some kind of reflection....which isn't easy and really defies explanation in so many ways.

[7962]

6. These are the crimes deserving the death penalty. NO DOUBT he's guilty. nt