New Mexico Muslim Killings

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by asoapymessromances

by asoapymessromances

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, fourShia Muslim men were killed between November 2021 and August 2022.All victims were killed by ambush shootings.

Albuquerque police initiallyinvestigated the killings as a possible hate crime. 51-year-oldMuhammad Atif Syed, an Afghan American, was arrested as the suspecton August 9, 2022. Authorities were also seeking to detain his son onAugust 14, 2022.

Killings

The first victim, Mohammad Ahmadi, anAfghan American, was killed on November 7, 2021, outside of abusiness he ran with his brother. On July 26, 2022, Aftab Hussein, aPakistani American of the Hazara ethnicity, was found dead withmultiple gunshot wounds next to his car after an assailant shot himthrough a bush. On August 1, police responded to a drive-by shootingwhich killed Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, a Pakistani American who amongother jobs "also worked on the campaign team for USRepresentative Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico." The lastvictim, Naeem Hussain, who was also Pakistani American, was founddead on August 6 by Albuquerque police officers responding to reportsof a shooting. This led the police to connect the three previouskillings.

Suspect

On August 9, 2022, the AlbuquerquePolice Department announced that a "primary suspect" hadbeen detained, later that day announcing the arrest of a 51-year-oldAfghan American named Muhammad Atif Syed, a well-known member of thelocal Muslim community. He was formally charged with the killings ofAftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussian on August 10, and will beinvestigated for possible involvement in the killings of MohammadAhmadi and Naeem Hussain. The police said in a statement that therewas evidence that Syed knew the victims to some extent, and that thekillings may have been motivated by "inter-personal conflict"as well as sectarian hate. All the victims were Shia Muslim, whilethe perpetrator is Sunni. Syed denied involvement in the killings.

Syed was working as a cook when he andhis family fled Afghanistan in 2012 for Pakistan, where they liveduntil being admitted to the US as refugees in 2016. Although Syedclaimed to have fought the Taliban as part of an elite AfghanNational Army unit, his US government profile listed no militaryexperience and an expert described his claim as "fishy".Beginning the year after he immigrated to the US, Syed was arrestedfor domestic violence three times, and one of his sons claimed Syedbeat him and his mother repeatedly. All three cases were dismissed:the first two when Syed's alleged victims refused to press charges,and the third after he completed a pretrial intervention program.Syed was also arrested for failing to pull over for police; thatcharge, too, was dismissed.

On August 14, 2022, the U.S. Attorneyfor New Mexico stated that they were seeking to detain MuhammadSyed's son Shaheen "Maiwand" Syed in connection withup to two of the killings based on cell tower data, phone records,and the recovery of a pistol in the son's room, though the son'sattorney called the allegations, "exceedingly thin andspeculative." Shaheen Syed has been arrested on an unrelatedcharge of using an incorrect address while purchasing a firearm.

Reactions

The belief that Islamophobia was behindthe killings prompted Albuquerque's Muslim community to temporarilyshutter businesses, and Muslim residents to either stay in theirhomes or move out of state. Reuters reported that the killings led to"days [of] bolstering security around Albuquerque-areamosques, seeking to allay fears of a shooter driven by anti-Muslimhate."

The Albuquerque Muslim communityreacted with sadness following the arrest of Syed, who is a Muslimhimself. Some residents expressed concern that Syed's arrest wouldfuel perceptions of Muslims as violent or extreme.

On August 10, the Islamic Center ofAlbuquerque held a community prayer for the men killed, while Sunniand Shia leaders came together in Washington, D.C. to send messagesof solidarity.

In an interview with Insider, a brotherof one of the victims said he did not believe that the killings werereligiously motivated.