3 students shot to death in apartment near UNC Chapel Hill

On Tuesday February 12, 2015, three  Muslim college students were shot to death in an apartment near the  University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.  The victims of this crime were sisters, Yusor  – Salha, 21, and Razan Abu –Salha,19, and Yusor’s husband, Abu Salha, 23. Police believe that the shooting of the three college students was over a parking spot, however they would not be surprised if it was a hate crime since all three of the students were Muslim. The man who was charged for murder for killing them  was 46 year old Craig Stephen Hicks. Facebook users come to the conclusion that Hicks, who is an atheist, killed the students because they were Muslim. Users have noticed comments posted on Facebook that could possibly be interpreted as racist comments.

Hick’s wife, Karen, thinks otherwise. She believes that her husband did  not shoot the students because of their religion but for parking in his parking spot on a regular basis. His wife also mentioned to authorities that she’s in the process of getting a divorce so that could be a possible factor for her husband’s actions. Karen’s attorney, Rob Maitland, stressed in an interview the importance of looking into people’s health records because it was clear that Craig ‘s mental health was not in the normal range, considering he shot 3 people over a parking spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKWafLGFoPo

The father of Yusor Abu  Salha and  Razan Abu Salha, Mohammad Abu Salha disagrees with Karen’s claims. He told CNN that he is very certain that  the deaths of his daughters and son in law were  because of their religion. He told CNN that problems did not begin to escalate until his oldest daughter moved in with his son in law in his condo. He told reporters that his eldest daughter, Yusor, had told him that Hicks  always came to their door to argue about an issue with a gun on his belt. The father believes that once Hicks saw his daughter with a head scarf, he figured she was Muslim, which he appeared to not be fond of. Stories like this show that racism can occur in any race, but it is important that we stand up for people when we see them being discriminated against. America cannot watch children killed over this issue no longer.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/11/us/chapel-hill-shooting/

State v. Mann Court Case

The first moot trial of the year was great to see. Both teams did a great job making arguments and supporting them referring to state laws and the constitution. Mr. Mann’s team of lawyers stated as an argument that slaves have no constitutional rights and that the law gives absolute power to the owner over the slave. Since John Mann rented out the slave, Lydia, from his neighbor, Elizabeth Jones, under contract, all owner ship was transferred to Mr. Mann under law.  Mr. Mann’s teams of lawyers justified him shooting and wounding Lydia by referring to state law. This state law states that if a runaway slave is caught, they must be returned to the owner and if the sheriff catches a runaway slave, the sheriff has the authority and right to kill the slave under the law.  In this situation, since Mr. Mann had absolute power over Lydia and since Lydia was considered property, him shooting was legal and justifiable.

On the other side, the state’s team of lawyers made a good argument stating that it was unmoral that the slave, Lydia, is treated like property even though she is human like any other race in the world. The state believed that Mr. Mann mistreated his “property” and that he had no right to shoot Lydia.  Although the state made a great argument, it was their opinion vs. laws and facts mentioned by Mr. Mann’s team of lawyers. The state in reality really had no chance against Mr. Mann.  I learned from this case that in this period of time the laws were not fair and were unmoral. I also learned that in this period of time, the law stated that it was ok to treat other human beings like “property” based solely on the color of their skin.  It’s important for citizens of the U.S. of today to learn about this case to prevent anything like this from ever happening again

State V. Mann

ISIS: Japanese hostage beheaded

On Tuesday February 3, 2015, CNN reported that Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto,  was killed by ISIS member, Jihadi John, in a 67 second long video. In the video the masked ISIS member, Jihadi John gives a brief speech in English to the people of Japan standing behind Goto with a knife in his hand.  According to CNN the video goes black as Jihadi John puts his knife to Goto’s throat. Once the video is clear again, Goto head is seen on the ground due to decapitation. This is not the first time that the masked man, Jihadi John, has hurled threats and overseen beheadings of other innocent citizens. He has been reported to have been present in six videos with hostages. Reporters describe his voice similar to a London accent. Goto was the second Japanese citizen to be killed by ISIS. The 47 year old father left behind a wife and a daughter who was recently born in December. 

ISIS continues to take hostages from different countries to prove their power and dominance. Just recently ISIS captured Jordanian pilot, Moath al Kasasbeh in Syria. He was captured after ejecting from his F-16 Jet.  ISIS has reported to Jordanian officials that they demand Jordan to exchange a convicted terrorist named Sajida al-Rishawi, for al-Kasasbeh. ISIS claims that if the swap does not take place, al Kassabeh will be killed. Jordanian Officials say that they are willing to give al -Rishawi  to ISIS in exchange for the pilot. Al –Rishawi is a female jihadist who was imprisoned in Jordan for being part of 2005 suicide bombing at a wedding reception, which killed dozens of innocent people. Jordan’s main  objective now is to receive some type of verification that al –Kaseasbeh is still alive.

At this point I believe that the United States should get involved in this affair and ally with Jordan to stop ISIS before they murder more innocent people.

ISIS: Japanese hostage beheaded