Posted on 08/09/2022 12:57:18 PM PDT by Red Badger
Albuquerque police say they have detained the “primary suspect” in the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city.
Police Chief Harold Medina on Tuesday announced the update on Twitter. The killings have sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities in New Mexico and beyond and fueled a race to find who was responsible.
“We tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved in a recent murder of a Muslim man in Albuquerque. The driver was detained and he is our primary suspect for the murders,” the tweet said.
No other information was immediately available. Police say they will provide an update on Tuesday afternoon.
Naeem Hussain was killed Friday night, and the three other men died in ambush shootings.
Hussain, 25, was from Pakistan. His death came just days after those of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, who were also from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.
The earliest case involves the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, from Afghanistan.
Authorities on Monday sought help searching for a vehicle that appeared to be the one discovered on Tuesday. The common elements in the deaths were the victims’ race and religion, officials said, and police in Albuquerque are trying to determine if the deaths are linked.
Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim community leader in New York, said that a female friend who lives in Michigan and wears the hijab head covering shared with her over the weekend just how rattled she was. “She’s like, ‘This is so terrifying. I’m so scared. I travel alone,’” Almontaser said.
Aneela Abad, general secretary at the Islamic Center of New Mexico, described a community reeling from the killings, its grief compounded by confusion and fear of what may follow.
“We are just completely shocked and still trying to comprehend and understand what happened, how and why,” she said.
Some people have avoided going out unless “absolutely necessary,” and some Muslim university students have been wondering whether it is safe for them to stay in the city, she said. The center has also beefed up its security.
Police said the same vehicle is suspected of being used in all four homicides — a dark gray or silver four-door Volkswagen that appears to be a Jetta or Passat with dark tinted windows. Authorities released photos hoping people could help identify the car and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Investigators did not say where the images were taken or what led them to suspect the car was involved in the slayings. Police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in an email Monday that the agency has received tips regarding the car but did not elaborate.
“We have a very, very strong link,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Sunday. “We have a vehicle of interest … We have got to find this vehicle.”
Gallegos said he could not comment on what kind of gun was used in the shootings, or whether police know how many suspects were involved in the violence.
President Biden said he was “angered and saddened” by the killings and that his administration “stands strongly with the Muslim community.”
“These hateful attacks have no place in America,” Biden said Sunday in a tweet.
The conversation about safety has also dominated WhatsApp and email groups that Almontaser is on.
“What we’ve seen happen in New Mexico is very chilling for us as a Muslim minority community in the United States that has endured so much backlash and discrimination” since the 9/11 attacks, she said. “It’s frightening.”
Few anti-Muslim hate crimes have been recorded in Albuquerque over the last five years, according to FBI data cited by Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor of criminal justice at California State University at San Bernardino.
From 2017 through 2020, there was one anti-Muslim hate crime a year. The highest recent number was in 2016, when Albuquerque police recorded six out of a total of 25 hate crimes.
That largely tracks with national trends, which hit the lowest numbers in a decade in 2020, only to increase by 45% in 2021 in a dozen cities and states, Levin said.
Albuquerque authorities say they cannot determine if the slayings were hate crimes until they have identified a suspect and a motive.
Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said bias killings are often perpetrated by a small group of people, typically young white men. A lone perpetrator is rare.
“These are basically total losers by every dimension, whether it’s social, economic, psychological, what have you,” he said. “They’re filled with hatred for one reason or another and target a particular group that they see, in their mind, to blame for all their problems in life.”
It was not clear whether the victims knew their attacker or attackers.
The most recent victim was found dead after police received a call of a shooting. Authorities declined to say whether the killing was carried out in a way similar to the other deaths.
Muhammad Afzaal Hussain had worked as a field organizer for a local congresswoman’s campaign.
Civil rights groups, including Al Sharpton-led organization, urge USDA to fix ‘dietary racism’ in school lunch programs What is the ‘Dark Brandon’ meme that has taken the White House by storm? Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury issued a statement praising him as “one of the kindest and hardest working people” she has ever known. She said the urban planner was “committed to making our public spaces work for every person and cleaning up legacy pollution.”
As land-use director for the city of Española — more than 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Albuquerque — Hussain worked to improve conditions and inclusivity for disadvantaged minorities, the mayor’s office said.
Dazio reported from Los Angeles and Fam from Winter Park, Florida. Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and AP news researchers Rhonda Shafner and Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.
There was some visible body and wheel damage on the video.
Isn't it against Sharia law for women to travel alone?
Heard that same information on the Howie Carr Show a few minutes ago:. A Shiite Muslim upset that his daughter married a Sunni, so he killed a few Sunnis
The MSM and the leftists will be so disappointed that it wasn’t a white guy.
It’s streaming now, Chief Medina is fawning over Keller in a sickening fashion.
Muhammad Said is the guy’s name. He was trying to run they got him near Santa Rosa.
Ugh. Now it's lockdown Lujan. Given the sheer number of high mucky-mucks, it has to be Muslim on Muslim. I just got in on the stream. Did they say anything of note, yet?
That chief was dripping in political correctness, when is he going to shut up is what I was thinking.
Not really as to motivation. He lived near Carlisle and Gibson with is a real craphole for the most part but near several of the crime scenes.
He’s a complete tool. The Mayor is worse, sort of a cross between Mr. Rogers and Beto O’Rourke.
Speaking of His Dipwadness. I don't think I've ever seen this much political crap for any other murder or set of murders in this area in the 17 years I've lived here. What blathering crap. Unless they're blaming APD for shooting someone.
The politicians are swarming , I was hoping to hear some cops talking about how they caught this dirtbag.
Yeah, they did next to nothing when Jackie Vigil was shot in her driveway. And 6 years to “sort of” solve and prosecute the Victoria Martens case.
I think the local Muslims dropped a dime on him based on vehicle description. The cops staked out his dwelling and followed him when he tried to do a runner. Took him down near Santa Rosa with is well east on I 40, the advantage is there you can shoot in any direction and probably not hit anything but dirt and cactus.
Muhammad Syed, 51, was taken into custody Monday night.
Thanks, will post the ABQ Journal story.
Thanks...
No sight of the suspect?
Bump
No information on the suspect from authorities so the reporter took it upon themselves to blame young white men.
Thanks. Glad they got the POS.
I guess there’s no news about a motive…
I was right about the killer.
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