Hate, parking dispute investigated as motive for killing of 3 Muslims
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Police are trying to determine whether hate played any role in the killing of three Muslims, a crime they said was sparked by a neighbor’s long-simmering anger over parking and noise inside their condominium complex.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, described himself as a “gun toting” atheist. Neighbors said he always seemed angry and confrontational. His ex-wife said he was obsessed with the shooting-rampage movie “Falling Down,” and showed “no compassion at all” for other people.
His current wife, Karen Hicks, said he “champions the rights of others” and said the killings “had nothing to do with religion or the victims’ faith.” Later Wednesday, she issued another statement, saying she’s divorcing him.
Hicks appeared in court Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths Tuesday of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. He pleaded indigence and was appointed a public defender.
Officers were summoned by a neighbor who called 911 reporting five to 10 shots and the sound of people screaming.
The women’s father, Mohammad Abu-Salha, said police told him each was shot in the head inside the couple’s apartment, and that he is convinced it was a hate crime.
“The media here bombards the American citizen with Islamic, Islamic, Islamic terrorism and makes people here scared of us and hate us and want us out. So if somebody has any conflict with you, and they already hate you, you get a bullet in the head,” said Abu-Salha, who is a psychiatrist.
The killings are fueling outrage among people who blame anti-Muslim rhetoric for hate crimes. A Muslim advocacy organization pressed authorities to investigate possible religious bias. Many posted social media updates with the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter.
“We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case,” Chapel Hill police Chief Chris Blue said in an email.
Chapel Hill police asked the FBI for help in their probe, and Ripley Rand, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, said his office was monitoring the investigation. But Rand said the crime “appears at this point to have been an isolated incident.”
About 2,000 people attended a candlelight vigil for the victims at the University of North Carolina’s campus in Chapel Hill Wednesday evening.
Barakat and Mohammad were newlyweds who helped the homeless and raised funds to help Syrian refugees in Turkey this summer. They met while running the Muslim Student Association at North Carolina State before he began pursuing an advanced degree in dentistry at UNC.
Abu-Salha was visiting them Tuesday from Raleigh, where she was majoring in design at N.C. State.
Hicks had less success: Unemployed and driving a 15-year-old car, his wife said he’s been studying to become a paralegal.
Hicks, a Second Amendment advocate with a concealed weapons permit, complained about Christians and Muslims on his Facebook page: “Some call me a gun toting Liberal, others call me an open-minded Conservative,” Hicks said.