Students Outraged Over Media Silence Concerning Triple Homicide at UNC Chapel Hill

By Rawan AbuShaban on February 13, 2015

Tuesday evening, three people were found murdered in a condominium near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The victims were shot in the head execution-style, and were pronounced dead at the scene.

As of now, most major American news sources have refused to cover this story in its entirety – and students are outraged.

UNC Chapel Hill is ranked among the top 50 universities in the country. (Image source: eastchapelhillobserver.com)

The victims of the shooting were soon identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, 24, who was a dental student UNC Chapel Hill. His wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, was also starting dental school at UNC in the fall. Her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, was a freshman. Barakat and his wife were approaching their two-month marriage anniversary before their murder, which took place in their home near the university campus.

The reader may be wondering: why is the presence of this story virtually nonexistent on most major American news sources?

Students at UC Berkeley have the same concern, and may have come to a frightening (albeit expected) conclusion: the media cares significantly less because victims were Muslim, and the shooter was white.

Right to left: Deah Shaddy Barakat (24), Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha (21), Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha (19). (Image source: wncn.com)

All three victims of the deadly shootings were Arab Muslims, born and raised in America. Abu-Salha and her sister were both observers of the hijab, the Islamic tradition of wearing a headscarf. Abu-Salha and her husband devoted uch of their time to servicing the community, and were active members of United Muslim Relief (UMR).

The suspected shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with murder in the first degree. Hicks, who lives in the same condominium complex as Barakat and his wife before he shot and killed them along with Abu-Salha’s younger sister in a triple homicide, reportedly turned himself in to the authorities following a 911 call issued from another neighbor, who heard up to 10 gunshots emanating from the scene.

The suspected shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks (46), shot the three students in their home on Tuesday evening. (Image source: nydailynews.com)

Last night’s tragic events have left many of us shaken, heavy-hearted, confused, and scared. Deeply affecting the broader Muslim community, as well as other college students throughout the UC Berkeley campus, candlelight vigils have been organized by students and members of Muslim communities alike both here and around the nation.

However, many students have expressed their anger towards major American news sources for glossing over this extreme act of violence, and what appears to be a blatant hate-crime.

Hicks, a Caucasian male and avid atheist, had posted anti-Islamic and anti-religion statements on his Facebook page in the days before he took the lives of three young and innocent Muslim students.

(Image source: facebook.com/craig.hicks.967)

Muslim students at the UC Berkeley campus have repeatedly expressed the belief that the reason major news sources are refusing to lend their headlines to these executions is because it counters their ongoing efforts to dehumanize Muslims through consistently negative and speculation-based reporting.

“This story of a white man brutally murdering Muslim people is not something the media generally wishes to report,” one student said. “It might stir public sympathy for the same people the media often tries to demonize.”

Current news coverage includes an interview with the killer’s wife, who claims that not only was the crime isolated from racial or religious hatred, but invokes mental illness as the reasoning behind her husband’s crimes. Headlines from major news sources attribute the crime to a “parking dispute” earlier that day (NBC News).

According to CBS News, “The shooting highlights the importance of access to mental health care services.” Hicks’ wife, who was interviewed by CBS, claims that “these people were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Hicks’ firearm, posted on his personal Facebook page. (Image source: facebook.com/craig.hicks.967)

Students have raised many concerns over the under-reporting and inappropriate focus on the incident. Since when was being at home in the evening the wrong place or time? When will more reporters hold interviews with the victims’ families? When will the justifications end? When will the news admit that white men with guns are the largest demographic of terrorists in America? When will the media admit that Muslim lives do, in fact, matter?

Many students believe that the focus on the suspect’s speculated mental health issues, as well as the attribution a “parking dispute” to the triple homicide, detracts attention from the actual murders. Muslim students in particular believe that the lack of proper news coverage is a technique the media is using in accordance with their trend of undermining American Muslims.

In the meantime, infuriated students have taken just reporting into their own hands, and have been spreading the news via Facebook, Twitter, and student organizations.

A vigil was soon held at the UNC Chapel Hill campus, which drew hundreds of mourning supporters of the victims’ families. (Image source: nytimes.com)

Furthermore, sources claim that Hicks was a Bill Maher fanatic, quoting him on his personal Facebook page, as well as quoting renowned scientist and atheist figure Richard Dawkins, along with posting many other statements condemning religion.

A number students feel threatened once again by the onset of islamophobia on US campuses, and have resurrected the controvery surrounding Bill Maher’s commencement speech at the fall 2014 graduation last December, believing that his anti-Islamic criticism and bigoted statements may have fuelled Hicks’ fatal attack on the East Coast, and may encourage many more to come.

These students may not be wrong in their predictions. One day after the shooting at Chapel Hill, a Muslim security guard, Mustafa Mattan, was shot dead through the front door of his apartment in Ottowa, Canada.

“He must have had a great parking spot, too… Isolated incident? I think not,” stated UC Berkeley student Asad Akbany, as he shared the CBC article reporting the incident on his Facebook profile.

UC Berkeley students are alarmed at the proximity of these two attacks, and fear that Hick’s fatal assault may trigger a chain of anti-Islamic attacks throughout the nation and even across borders.

On Thursday Feb. 12, a candlelight vigil was held in front of Sproul Hall from 5:30 to 7:00 PM for those who wished to express their solidarity with one another and pay their respects in light of this week’s tragic losses. This event was sponsored by the Political Action Committee of the Muslim Student Association.

Do you think this is a hate-crime? Or an act of insanity? Join the conversation and let us know what you think.

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