One of the suspects in the San Bernardino, Calif., rampage that killed 14 once listed Chicago as his birthplace on a dating site, NBC News reports.
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Speaking to mosque attendees at the Islamic Center of Maryland in Washington DC, American Muslims told Reuters they feared that the identity of the attackers could lead to their religion being demonised in the country. “We are also citizens of San Bernardino”, he said.
President Obama this week at climate talks in Paris blamed climate, not radical Islam, for fostering “dangerous” ideologies.
“If someone becomes nuts, you don’t represent the religion anymore”.
Gasser Shehata, 42, said he was convinced Farook’s actions were linked to a work-related dispute – which is one line police are looking at – rather than his religious beliefs.
“He was calm, shy, reserved”.
“He never struck me as a fanatic, he never struck me as suspicious”, Griselda Reisinger said. The two had a baby and, as the brother-in-law explained it, appeared to be “living the American dream”.
He had everything to be happy.
“There’s no difference between being an American and being a Muslim”, Mumtaz said.
“For humanity to survive, we need a message of peace”, he said.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said the shooting spree had been planned beforehand and that the couple left pipe bombs behind before fleeing in a dark SUV. Mustafaa Carrol, the Executive Director of CAIR Texas says they have had death threats.
Ahsan Khan pointed to radicalization as the root cause of those fears, and said Muslim communities across the country have launched hundreds of “STOP THE CR-ISIS” campaigns (a play on the jihadist militant group in Iraq) at college campuses in the USA and Canada, trying to figure out why certain youth are being radicalized, and how faith leaders can combat it at the grass roots level.
“In every culture and in every religion there are bad apples that will spoil the rest of the apples”.
Many voters said they agree that Muslims are less willing to assimilate than other immigrant groups.
Imam said it’s a holy place for Muslims. He noted Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s endorsement of the idea of creating a Muslim database.
“But check yourself. Ask yourself am I feeling this way because only because of this person’s demographic or are there real concrete things that have happened that make me believe that”, Salem said. “The Muslim community does not approve of terror. We have to think about defending ourselves and praying that the perpetrators are not Muslim”.
Investigations into the shooting incident are underway.
“We complain that what are the Muslim people doing to root out terrorism and extremism”, Ayloush told CNN host Chris Cuomo in an appearance on the network. Family members were being questioned by police late Wednesday.
Jersey City real-estate agent Magdy Ali (52), of Egyptian descent, said he uses the name Alex when working to avoid conflict with people who distrust Islam.
And that has left them all the more puzzled about his killing spree on Wednesday.
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“Opened the door – a gun pointed right at my face”, he said.
