On Tuesday February 11, 2015, three Muslim American students were killed at the University of North Carolina around 5 p.m. by local man Craig Hicks. According to Hicks and his wife, this violent outburst was a result of an on going parking despite between Mr. Hicks and the victims, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; her husband, Mr. Barakat, 23; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. According to reports, Mr. Hicks opened fire on the victims and ultimately shot them in the head and killed them. This outrageous act of violence seems to be a bit too extreme to have erupted over a simple parking altercation. The timing is too peculiar. In my opinion, it seems to be more complicated than that.
Many people were quick to jump to twitter and Facebook to criticize the media for its lack of coverage, claiming that if a muslim man killed three christians, it would be breaking news. But instead, three Muslim Americans were killed, and the major media outlets took a backseat in regards to their coverage of this violent outbreak. I find it hard to believe that this violent action could have come about merely from a parking dispute, as Mr. Hicks and the media proclaim. It seems evident that this was a crime fueled from hatred and anger; a hate crime. People were quick to proclaim this as an act of terrorism, which seemed to shock many others in our society. Too often are the terms "terrorist" and "muslim" considered synonyms. But by definition, a hate crime is in fact an act of terrorism because it uses violence in the pursuit of political aims. Now Mr. Hicks may not look like our stereotypical terrorist we see on the news, but he must be judged by his actions, and his actions suggest a life of anger and ignorance towards an ideology.
As Americans, we are free to practice our religions and our cultures as we please, as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. We are all equal under the law: white, black, christian, or muslim; we are all equal.
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