“Businesses are closing … early. Students won’t be leaving their homes,” he said. “It’s affecting people from coming to the mosque to do their services, their prayers. So in every aspect of daily life that we’re used to or we’re used to following, it’s affected it in every possible way.” On Friday night, 25-year-old Naeem Hussain was found dead by Albuquerque police. He became the third Muslim killed in the city in two weeks and the fourth since November. Hours before his death, Hussain — who had just become a US citizen — attended the funerals of two of the other shooting victims. The young man expressed fear about the recent shootings, said Tahir Gauba, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of New Mexico. Although there was no description of his killer, Albuquerque police said Hussain’s death “may be linked” to three previous killings of South Asian Muslim men. Those three men — Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, Aftab Hussein, 41 and Mohammad Ahmadi, 62 — were all “ambushed without warning, shot and killed,” said Kyle Hartsock, deputy commander of the criminal investigation division. of the Albuquerque Police Department. . All four victims were Muslim and of South Asian descent, investigators said. Police are looking for “a vehicle of interest” that may be linked to the four murders. They tweeted a photo of the car, a dark gray or silver Volkswagen with four doors and tinted windows. Police said it may be a Volkswagen Jetta. Anyone with information about the car or the murders is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or contact Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP or CrimeStoppersNM.com. “All information you provide will be anonymous and confidential,” the city of Albuquerque said. “There is a $20,000 reward from Crime Stoppers and a $10,000 reward from the Council on American-Islamic Relations for information leading to an arrest.”
“They are afraid to go to school”
Although police have not called the four murders hate crimes, “in my opinion, it is clearly hate-motivated.” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Monday. “They’re obviously targeting Muslim men and they’re happening right here in our own refugee community,” Keller told CNN. “We know that people in our community, especially in the Muslim community, are afraid to even leave their house, especially at night. They are afraid to pray. They are afraid to go to school,” the mayor said. Keller said Albuquerque is not just “in a place of sadness right now, but a place of rage.” But he said the community is determined to help. “We have pooled all the resources to now have a police presence in all our mosques during prayer time,” the mayor said. “We even do meal deliveries for families who are afraid to leave their homes to get food.” Assed, the mosque’s president, said he is now among the many Muslims in New Mexico who struggle daily with fear. “I get in the car and watch in every possible way. I watch my mirror. I look back. I look for any sign of anything out of the ordinary,” he said. he said. “At the end of the day, we have no alternative.”
A young US citizen fleeing religious persecution is killed in America
Naeem Hussain immigrated as a refugee from Pakistan in 2016 — fleeing persecution as a Shia Muslim — and had only become a U.S. citizen last month, according to his brother-in-law, Ehsan Shahalami. “He was the most generous, kind, giving, patient and down-to-earth person I could ever meet,” Shahalami said. “He was very hardworking. He shared everything he made with his family at home.” The young man, who opened his own trucking business this year, had plans to bring his wife from Pakistan and buy some property in Virginia, Shahalami said. “He had a lot of dreams and he achieved some of them,” Shahalami said. “His others were cut short by this heinous act.” On the day he was killed, Hussein attended the funerals of two other Muslim men who had recently been killed in the city, said Tahir Gauba, director of public relations for the Islamic Center of New Mexico. Hussein went to a meal at the mosque after the funerals and approached Gauba to ask if he had more information about the shootings, Gauba told CNN. “He stopped to say ‘hey, what’s going on?’ He was worried. I told him to be careful,” Gauba said. “We thought that after burying these two young men (Friday), we would shut down and move on and let law enforcement investigate,” Gauba said. “Waking up on Saturday morning to his death, the whole community just feels helpless. There’s a lot of fear.” “It beats everybody,” Gauba added. The killings have put the city’s Muslim community at risk as police investigate possible links between the attacks, which involved Muslim men of South Asian descent. Two other Muslim men killed — Muhammed Afzaal Hussain and Aftab Hussein — were members of the same mosque, were both from Pakistan, and were killed in southeast Albuquerque just days apart, police said. After their murders, police began investigating whether the killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, a Muslim from Afghanistan, on November 7, 2021, was related.
“Fear is so powerful”
As the investigation continues, the Islamic Center, where about 700 to 800 Muslims gather on Fridays, has warned residents to be cautious. “We urge everyone to take precautions and be aware of your surroundings, including making sure you are not followed home and to avoid walking alone at night,” the Islamic Center of New Mexico posted on Facebook. “This is especially true for our members who live in the southeast part of the city where these murders took place.” After Hussain’s killing on Friday, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she would send additional state police to Albuquerque. The city is also increasing the police presence at mosques, Muslim-affiliated schools and the University of New Mexico, officials said. “We’ve heard from the community that the fear is so strong, there’s even concern about things like grocery stores and getting meals for certain people in certain areas of the city,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said at a weekend briefing, adding that the city is helping to provide meals for those affected by the killings. Gauba said Albuquerque has always felt like a welcoming community for Muslims, even after 9/11. “It’s the first time we’ve felt this kind of atmosphere,” he said. “We are afraid.” CNN’s Raja Razek contributed to this report.
