The Anti-Defamation League is expressing solidarity with New York City’s Muslim community in the wake of the fatal shootings of the leader of a mosque and a friend as they left afternoon prayers in Queens.
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An imam and his friend were shot dead as they left a mosque in New York City, sparking a major police manhunt.
The motive for the shooting was not immediately known and no evidence has been uncovered that the two men were targeted due to their faith, said Tiffany Phillips, a spokeswoman for the New York City Police Department.
Members of the community are urging police to treat the killing as a hate crime.
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The statement identified the imam as Maulama Akonjee, 55.
Surveillance video appears to show a man, wearing shorts and a dark polo shirt, approaching them from behind before fleeing with a gun.
Police said there were as yet “no indications” the men were targeted due to their faith.
The motivation behind the violence is still unclear, but many from the surrounding community who attend the mosque are calling this a hate crime. More than 100 people attended a rally Saturday night, chanting: “We want justice!”
The suspect is still at large, police said, and no motive was given.
Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner said that now a motive has not been determined and “there’s nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted due to their faith”.
The imam’s daughter, Naima Akonjee, said her father – described by worshippers as a pious man who gave compelling readings from the Koran – did not “have any problems with anyone”.
The New York Chapter of Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organisation Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it has reported an unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim incidents nationwide since Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “bigoted call for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States”.
But police on Sunday had not yet determined the motive for the attack. The mosque caters to the Bangladeshi community in Ozone Park area of Queens borough.
The organization held a news conference on Saturday evening in front of the mosque, the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid, where the two men had prayed.
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A police officer told BBC that the imam and his assistant were both shot in the head from behind.
