FBI opens inquiry into North Carolina murders of Muslim students

Rasa - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched an inquiry into the recent murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina, after family members denounced police for not pursuing the case as a hate crime.

News ID: 2125

Date: 14 February 2015 - 01:18

RNA - A middle-aged white man shot dead Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on Tuesday afternoon.

Local police have launched a homicide investigation focusing on a dispute over a parking space, but the families of the victims have rejected that narrative, describing the killing an “execution-style murder” and a “hate crime”.

The FBI’s main North Carolina office said in a statement on Thursday night that the agency would continue to help the local law enforcement agencies with their ongoing investigation.

“The FBI has also opened a parallel preliminary inquiry to determine whether or not any federal laws were violated related to the case,” said Shalley Lynch, media coordinator for the Charlotte field office of the FBI.

The tragic murders of three bright Muslim students have started a debate on whether the students were targeted because of their religion. The incident has also caused outrage among Muslims all over the world.

According to reports, all three were high achievers who regularly volunteered for charity work in the area. Barakat was a second-year student at the University of North Carolina’s graduate school of dentistry, and his wife was planning to enroll in the same institution later this year. Her sister was an undergraduate at North Carolina State University who has won an award for her artistic talents.

In an interview with Press TV on Thursday, an international lawyer in Indonesia said, America’s media, its security agencies and political apparatus have the blood of the murdered American Muslim students on their hands.

“Considering the calculated, long term, and officially sanctioned demonization of Muslims in the United Sates, at a moral level, America's  media, its security agencies and political apparatus have the of blood these victims on their hands,” Barry Grossman said.

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