The ACLU of North Carolina joins countless people from across our state and around the world this week in expressing sorrow over the tragic killing of students Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, in Chapel Hill on February 10.
While the details are still being investigated, several sources, including family members of the victims, have suggested that an underlying motivation in the killings was the three victims’ Muslim faith. That is why the ACLU of North Carolina is supporting Muslim Advocates and more than 150 civil rights, faith, community, and civic groups in urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to open a full and rigorous federal hate crime investigation.
“With hate crimes against Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim alarmingly on the rise in recent years, your leadership is crucial to help stem the tide of hate,” reads to letter to Holder. “…Federal leadership is necessary in this case in order to send the strongest message to the public that acts of violence like this have no place in civil society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
You can read the full letter from Muslim Advocates and others here.
