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.
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.
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