Albuquerque's Muslim Community Mourns 4 Killed as Suspect Arrested, Calls for Counseling & Support

2 years ago
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Police say they have arrested a primary suspect in the recent killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Authorities say Muhammad Syed, 51, committed at least two of the killings and may have been motivated by anger that his daughter had married outside of her branch of Islam. The four victims are Mohammad Ahmadi, Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, Aftab Hussein and Naeem Hussain. We go to Albuquerque to speak with Samia Assed, human rights activist and organizer, who was the host of a memorial Tuesday night at the Islamic Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque's longest-standing and largest mosque that at least three of the victims had attended. She discusses the increased police presence in the Muslim community and the suspect's own identity that contradicted initial assumptions that the killings were anti-Muslim hate crimes. "With this perpetrator being Muslim, I just want to say violence is not exclusive to the Muslim community," says Assed. "It shouldn't be a judgment call on who we are."

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