OPINION:
A black man who was arrested for fatally shooting three white men in Fresno, California, and then shouting “allahu akbar” before surrendering to police, is believed by authorities to have been a racist, not a terrorist.
“Local authorities said they don’t believe the attack was an act of terrorism but are investigating it as a hate crime,” wrote the Los Angeles Times.
Yes, a hate crime committed by a crazy man who was still, despite the best efforts of law enforcement and the media to downplay, a Muslim and who at some point during his alleged murderous mayhem felt called upon to call on his god, to give the glory where he felt glory was due. So let’s not gloss the point of religion, particularly if, as law enforcement insists, it has nothing to do with the crime.
He didn’t shout “allahu akbar” for nothing.
Here’s the back story.
Kori Ali Muhammad — a 39-year-old man whose last name, according to ABC News, used to be McDonald, and whose full name, according to the Los Angeles Times, used to be Kori Taylor — allegedly walked the streets of Fresno firing at white people and ultimately killing three white men.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the shootings were “based solely on race” and that the incident was “definitely a hate crime,” rather than act of Islam-tied terror.
According to ABC News, the events unfolded this way: Muhamad, also spelled in other media accounts as Muhammad, first fired on a passenger inside a PG&E truck on Tuesday. The victim, 34, a father of two young children, died at the hospital. The suspect then came across another man on the street and shot at him — and missed. Shortly after, the suspect then shot and killed another white man, 37, also on the streets. Muhamad then walked to Catholic Charities, where he shot and killed a 58-year-old white male in the parking lot.
“While Muhamad was being arrested, Dyer said he yelled out, ’allahu akbar,’ which means, ’God is great,’ in Arabic,” ABC News reported. “Muhamad admitted to the shootings, even apologizing to Dyer.”
Dyer also said Muhamad had been wanted in the connection with the shooting death of a security guard that occurred just a few days prior, a 26-year-old man who was at a Motel 6 in the area.
And subsequent investigation found Muhammad, who had been living in the streets for the last few days, had a criminal history and a social media presence that included numerous postings about his hatred of white people. On Facebook, he referred to Caucasians as “devils,” and to himself as a “black soldier,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Well, racism does seem to be an indicator.
But the tie to Islam can’t be discounted, either.
His Facebook page was dotted with images of red, green and black Pan-African flags, along with militant-type calls to “let black people go.” And just Monday, he wrote: “MY KILL RATE INCREASES TREMENDOUSLY ON THE OTHER SIDE ASE [sic] ALLAH U AKBAR,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
A la Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, right?
So maybe Muhammad wasn’t acting on behalf of ISIS or al Qaeda, or some Islamic terrorist cell within the United States, when he allegedly went on his killing spree. But outright discounting his Islam beliefs as a motivating factor behind the murders seems a bit premature — particularly since the guy went out of his way to bring “allahu akbar” into the picture.
And one has to wonder: If this suspect were a Christian who shouted “Glory to Jesus” as he was being taken into police custody, would law enforcement — would the media — be so quick to label the act simply a hate crime and dismiss any influence of religion? Or would headlines across the mainstream media gamut blast forth the killer’s Christian roots, Jesus-loving beliefs, Christian church-worshiping habits, and so forth and so on?
Right. But out of concessions to political correctness, and let’s be honest, outright fear of Muslim lobby groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, we’re supposed to see Muhammad as a crazed racist — rather than a crazed racist with Islamic beliefs. OK. But there’s just one problem with that. One scenario’s true — the other, truth. And the American people deserve the full picture, the truth, not just a best-guess, of all the factors that may have played into the hate crime.
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