On Saturday afternoon, Maulama Akonjee, a 55-year-old old imam and Thara Uddin, 64, his assistant imam, were shot in the head and killed outside of the mosque that they serve in Queens, New York City.
Law enforcement has said the motivation for the killing is not clear at the moment -- it may well prove to be unrelated to the victim's faith.
But that's not the way the killing is being received by Muslims from Queens, throughout New York City and pretty much everywhere else in the country. Many readily believe that these two men were targeted because of their faith and that this was a hate crime.
Read Full Article »