lego 44,165 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 RALEIGH  As thousands of mourners prayed for the three Muslim American students killed in Chapel Hill this week, the FBI opened a parallel investigation into the case Thursday. In a brief news release late in the day, the FBI said it had launched “a parallel preliminary inquiry to determine whether or not any federal laws were violated related to the case.†The FBI had previously been called in to assist the Chapel Hill police in processing evidence from the crime scene; the new inquiry could broaden the case’s jurisdiction and potentially bolster the charges against the suspect. The FBI’s announcement came hours after a somber funeral, where 5,500 mourners gathered at N.C. State University. Crowds knelt on a large blue tarp spread on a university soccer field across the street from an Islamic center in West Raleigh. Three caskets – one gray, one white, one silver – were carried on the shoulders of men who chanted as they entered the field. The caskets were placed on the field, an imam sang the call to prayer and the crowd fell silent. There were several separate prayers, and the mourners bowed down, placing their heads to the ground. Afterward, the three were buried in an Islamic cemetery near Wendell. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his newlywed wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were killed in a shooting Tuesday in Chapel Hill. A neighbor of Barakat and Yusor Abu-Salha, Craig Stephen Hicks, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police have said a parking dispute may have led to the slayings, though families think the motive involved animosity based on the victims’ Muslim faith. The father of the two women who died, Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, took the stage at the funeral and called on President Barack Obama to have the FBI carefully examine the motivation behind the slayings. “This has hate crime written all over it,†Abu-Salha said, his voice rising. ‘Let’s stand up’ He added: “If they don’t listen carefully I will yell, and everybody else will. All honest Americans, they’re all here – white and black, and all colors and shapes. So let’s stand up – real and honest – and see what these three children were martyred about. It was not about a parking spot.†Abu-Salha said this is not about revenge or punishment but about protecting every other child of any faith or ethnic background. He asked the mourners to remember and celebrate the three students, and he injected a bit of humor when he described them as “die-hard Wolfpack†fans who didn’t mind taunting their Tar Heel friends. Abu-Salha called the recent marriage of Barakat and his daughter Yusor in December “a wedding in heaven.†He described his younger daughter Razan as a breeze. “She walked on this earth lighter than air,†Abu-Salha said. “She loved everybody and everything, and the beauty in nature, animals, design, pets, humans.†Nouman Siddiqui, who spoke at the event, said the Islamic community is proud that the three are being united with their creator. To those who had seen their smiles, their selflessness and what they did for humankind, Siddiqui said, then “you saw the beauty of Islam.†He went on to urge the crowd to pray for the Barakat and Abu-Salha families. The deaths have prompted an international outpouring of grief and support of the Muslim community. A group of representatives from local and national Muslim organizations attended and urged people to carry on the students’ legacy of love and concern for others. ‘Grief and shock’ They issued a joint statement: “These three young people were exemplary members of the community, contributing to various humanitarian causes, including helping provide free dental services to homeless people in the Triangle area, and working with international refugees. Our community is reeling from the loss of these three outstanding youth who positively impacted the lives of those around them. We are in a state of grief and shock.†Mourners described Thursday’s service as powerful and uplifting. But many friends were too shaken to talk about it. Sirageldin Osman, a retired professor at N.C. Central University in Durham, said his son played basketball with Barakat. “You never see him without a smile, never, never all his life,†Osman said. “It’s a big loss for the community, for his father and mother ... for the whole community, for the United States. ... It’s very sad that we’ve seen three people slaughtered like that.†http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/12/4550644_hundreds-gather-at-funeral-for.html?rh=1 http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/POLICE-3-people-shot-to-death-in-Chapel-Hill-condominium-291475191.html VIDEO: Chapel Hill victims families ask federal authorities to investigate murders as a hate crimehttp://abc11.com/513545/ ----- "Execution style, a bullet in every head" http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-usa-north-carolina-murder-idUSKBN0LF11020150211 Father says it was no parking disputehttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/02/11/5508217/victims-father-says-chapel-hill.html#.VN0lkvmUc11 'He was bent on killing them. If this is not a hate crime, what is a hate crime?' Mourning fatherVIDEO: http://www.msnbc.com/ronan-farrow/watch/victims-father-urges-hate-crime-investigation-398127683638 ---- http://fusion.net/story/47569/chapel-hill-shooting-my-best-friend-was-killed-and-i-dont-know-why/ I Knew "Automatically" Who Had Shot Them: Friend of Slain Muslim Students Speaks Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i09sFmgK8rI ---- VIDEO: MORE THAN 5,000 PEOPLE ATTEND FUNERAL FOR CHAPEL HILL SHOOTING VICTIMS ''Barakat and Mohammad were newlyweds who helped the homeless and raised money to help Syrian refugees in Turkey. They met while helping to run the Muslim Student Association at N.C. State before he began pursuing an advanced degree in dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mohammad, who graduated in December, planned to join her husband in dentistry school in the fall. Abu-Salha was visiting them Tuesday from Raleigh, where she was majoring in design at N.C. State. "This was like the power couple of our community," said Ali Sajjad, 21, the association's current president.'' http://abc11.com/news/5000-people-attend-funeral-for-chapel-hill-shooting-victims/514319/ ---- Chapel Hill killer shared a photo of his gun on Facebook 3 weeks ago His wife deleted her FB pagehttps://www.facebook.com/karen.h.hicks.1 Killer's post on FB (now gone)"When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me. If your religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I.â€http://tinyurl.com/nwu7m5v ----- Murderer has some support online http://tinyurl.com/kypgwox FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
swine killer 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 The whole thing is just sad! I have no words. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Chapel Hill shooting: 'You don't respond back with hate' – Deah Barakat's mother leads tributes at candlelit vigil to victims http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chapel-hill-shooting-you-dont-respond-back-with-hate--deah-barakats-mother-leads-tributes-at-candlelit-vigil-to-victims-10040851.html https://twitter.com/jillography/status/565732428317081600 https://twitter.com/jillography/status/565764354042511360 FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoxo cupcakke 4,781 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 It is so sad that these youths who had so much to live for were just shot in cold blood but will the world learn from this in the end? No, it will just repeat itself until something drastic occurs which will forever change future history Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Deah’s older sister Suzanne Barakat gave this powerful and emotional interview to CNN’s Anderson Cooper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rVLYyfn8XY FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Cher tweeted about this. https://twitter.com/cher/status/565785133207138304 https://twitter.com/cher/status/565956602952286208 FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wonka 4 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 this upsets me so much Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Will Muslims ever be part and parcel of America? written by Freelance journalist Deanna Othman lives in Oak Lawn As Muslim-Americans, we constantly reassure ourselves. Get an education. Excel in your fields. Be that Muslim you wish the media could see; be the "moderate" they are looking for. And things will change. People will open up their minds and hearts. They will see beyond ISIS and 9/11; they will realize you are not Boko Haram and you do not stand for the murder of innocents. And they will accept you. They will embrace you. But then a tragedy of the magnitude of the Chapel Hill, N.C., murders occurs, and you realize this may all be a farce. Your worst fear, the one you suppress and relegate to the recesses of your mind, becomes a reality. You realize that you could be the top of your class and give back to your community  be the model citizen. You could even voice your disapproval at every possible act of violence you may or may not be falsely identified with, constantly justifying and rejustifying the legitimacy of your faith, screaming from the rooftops #JeSuisCharlie and #NotInMyName. You could use the hashtags, lead the protests and issue the requested and expected condemnations. And you could still be a target. You ask yourself: Are we destined to remain "otherized," categorically excluded, alienated and repelled from the very society in which we live? Must we constantly assert our Americanness and prove our loyalty, only to be demonized, vilified and caricatured by our media? It is exhausting to feel compelled to constantly validate your identity. Must Muslims be paragons of excellence, lest there be a motive found for their murder other than sheer hatred? Littering? Running a stop sign? Being too loud? Existing? The overwhelming sense of grief many Muslim-Americans felt following the cold-blooded murder Tuesday in Chapel Hill of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, hit us directly in our hearts. We are them. They represent us, everything we grew up with  our lifestyles, our identities, our faith. They embody what our communities tried to instill, and continue to struggle to instill, in young Muslims growing up in this country  a sense of pride in their faith and a sense of devotion to their fellow man. The Islamophobia propagated by media  whether in the form of sensationalist news coverage, providing a platform for the rabid hate speech of right-wing politicians, or stereotypical film plots and the lionization of "heroes" such as American sniper Christopher Kyle  is palpable and has very real consequences for Muslim-Americans. It is not a figment of our imaginations; we are not being dramatic, nor are we exaggerating the effects of such rhetoric. It is time for those who rile up the public and fuel virulent racism and Islamophobia with their unfounded claims and ignorant assertions to take responsibility for the consequences of their heedless and insidious speech. I believe in divine justice, and to me, it is no accident that the three victims of this heinous crime were not just ordinary Americans  they were extraordinary. They excelled academically, were active socially and gave to humanity. There is divine wisdom in having their uplifting stories told, and it is devastating that it took their murders to compel network news to broadcast such inspirational stories of Muslim-Americans. It was just last week I stood in front of my classroom full of Muslim high school juniors, discussing with them the poetic insight of Walt Whitman, who envisioned an America that was robust and free; a "teeming nation of nations" that encompassed the dreams, ideals and philosophies of those who landed on her shores. We a--lyzed and dissected Whitman's prose and poetry, asking ourselves, where do we as Muslims fit into this narrative? Do we belong in Whitman's America? Are Muslims part and parcel of this nation? Can we ever be? I didn't have a definitive answer for them then. And I certainly don't have one now. But I do know that Whitman also said, "The largeness of nature or the nation were monstrous without a corresponding largeness and generosity of the spirit of the citizen." Deah, Yosur and Razan were those citizens. And we will never forget their legacies. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-chapel-hill-muslims-murder-perspec-0213-jm-20150212-story.html FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 President Obama issued statement regarding Chapel Hill shooting: http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/13/statement-president FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lego 44,165 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Father of Yusor Abu-Salha tells CNN that family wants a hate crime investigation, not to punish, but bc "we want to protect other children" Both Deah's & Yusor's dads tell CNN that Craig Hicks didn't start harassing Deah until Yusor moved in, suggesting he didn't like her hijab. Father says on CNN that his daughter Razan was shot in the back of the head. She was just visiting her sister. It seems they concluded it was a parking dispute based entirely on the claims of the shooter. “On the day of the murders, the parking spot that was ‘disputed’ had no car in it," says Deah Barakat's sister, Suzanne. "I haven’t heard anyone use the term terrorist here. Why the double standard? He has terrorized our families..." Victim's sister: It's open season on Muslims who are dehumanized by politicians, media & movies like @AmericanSniper Sister of UNC victim: Shooter terrorized our family VIDEO http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/02/13/lead-intv-full-barakat-sister-chapel-hill-shooting-victim.cnn FreePalestine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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