Imam and his assistant shot in New York

[robert99]

Imam and his assistant shot dead in Queens, New York - BBC News
Imam Akonjee and his assistant Thara Uddin, 64, were shot a short walk from the al-Furqan Jame mosque at about 13:50 local time (17:50 GMT) on Saturday.

The men were approached from behind by a man who shot them both in the head, a police spokesman said.

Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, moved to the city from Bangladesh two years ago, reports in New York said.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

 

[robert99]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/n...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
The man, Oscar Morel of Brooklyn, 35, who was taken into custody late Sunday after the police connected him to a hit and run that occurred about a mile away from the fatal attack, faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the police said.

... Chief Boyce said investigators had not determined the motivation for the attack, and that it was unclear if the man had any connection to the two murder victims. “We’re still drilling down on it,” Chief Boyce said of the motive, adding that it was “certainly on the table that it’s a hate crime.

“Right now,” he said, “we can’t explain why that person was there.”

 

[robert99]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/n...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
The community in this case, a Muslim enclave in Ozone Park, clearly called for a response from Mr. Brown as many in the neighborhood fearfully described the killings of the men, Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Miah, as a hate crime. That put Mr. Brown in a complicated position, several lawyers said. The police, so far, have not determined a motive for the murders — let alone found evidence of a hate crime. So Mr. Brown, a Democrat, had to file charges that were factually and tactically defensible while still being seen as answering the neighborhood’s anxious call as firmly as he could.

“He was responding to the technical requirements of the law, but also to public pressure — there’s no doubt about it,” said Murray Richman, a veteran member of the city’s defense bar. “While he came forward with the right charge, a lot of it was political. Whenever there’s something that agitates a particular group, you don’t have a choice. You have to respond.”

While prosecutors do not have to establish motive to charge people with a crime, it is an essential part of their subsequent efforts to prove their case at trial. Should Mr. Morel go to trial, an assistant district attorney will want to furnish to the jury a credible explanation for why he undertook two murders that he has denied committing. Some lawyers said that in the absence of a motive, it was a bit unusual to have accused Mr. Morel of first-degree murder.

 

[robert99]

“we’re going hard into his phone.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/n...ens-imam-and-aide-pleads-not-guilty.html?_r=0
During the hearing, prosecutors said that investigators found the gun used in the attack, a .38-caliber revolver, hidden inside a wall in Mr. Morel’s apartment in East New York, Brooklyn. The gun was in a bag, along with five discharged shell casings. Mr. Morel, who was in police custody the day after the attack, had also been connected to the killing through video surveillance, his own statements and witness accounts.

Officials said they were certain that Mr. Morel was the gunman, but, weeks after the attack, the motivation remains unclear.

 

[robert99]

Also in Queens -
PressTV-US Muslim woman killed in ‘hate crime’
Hundreds of people have gathered at a New York mosque to hold a funeral for a Bangladeshi woman, who was stabbed to death in what they denounced as a hate crime.

The crowd gathered at the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens on Friday to mourn 60-year old Nazma Khanam, who was killed on Wednesday night.

Khanam was wearing a headscarf, when she was stabbed several times by an unidentified assailant.

Her husband, Shamsul Alam Khan, who was walking a few feet behind her, due to inability for having asthma, said his wife screamed that “somebody killed me!” He then found a four-inch blade sticking out of Khanam’s body.

Police have not yet identified the killer. “This was not a robbery and though we do not know all the facts, the reality is this is happening too often,” said public advocate Letitia James.

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Muslim woman set on fire in New York
In a bizarre instance of religious discrimination in the US, a Muslim woman in New York City has been set on fire for wearing an Islamic dress.
Nemariq Alhinai was walking in front of the shop at around 21:00 when she felt heat on her arm and noticed that the sleeve of her blouse was charred and smoldering while a man with a lighter in hand was standing next to her.

The attack comes days after an American woman was arrested for attacking two Muslim women as they were pushing two baby carriages in New York’s Brooklyn district.

According to court documents, Emirjeta Xhelili, 32, hurled Islamophobic insults as she struck the hijab-wearing women in the face and body. She repeatedly shouted, "This is the United States of America, you're not supposed to be different from us."
(WTF?!)
‘Get the f*ck out of America, b*tches’: Crazed Trump fan attacks Muslim women pushing baby strollers
Ahh ... the full quote makes sense ,“Get the f*ck out of here,” the woman yelled, according to prosecutors. “Get the f*ck out of America, b*tches… This is America — you shouldn’t be different from us.”