Associated Press
Authorities on Monday identified the fourth victim in a series of killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque, as the deaths sent ripples of fear through the Islamic community nationwide.
Three of the slayings happened in the past week. Now law-enforcement officials are seeking help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the killings in New Mexico’s largest city. The common elements were the victims’ race and religion, officials said.
Naeem Hussain was killed Friday night, and ambush shootings killed three other Muslim men over the past nine months. Police are trying to determine if they are linked.
The killings have spread fear beyond New Mexico, where Muslims constitute less than 1% of adults in the statewide population of 2.1 million, according to Pew Research Center.
“The fact the suspect remains at large is terrifying,” Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim community leader in New York, wrote on Twitter. “Who is next?!”
In a phone interview, Almontaser said that a female friend who lives in Michigan and wears the hijab head covering shared with her over the weekend just how rattled she was. “She’s like, ‘This is so terrifying. I’m so scared. I travel alone,’ ” Almontaser said.
Hussain, 25, was from Pakistan. His death came just days after those of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41, who were also from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.
The earliest case involves the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, from Afghanistan.
“We will bring this person or these persons to justice,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Sunday.
Police said the same vehicle is suspected of being used in all four homicides — a dark gray or silver four-door Volkswagen that appears to be a Jetta or Passat with dark tinted windows. Authorities released photos hoping people could help identify the car and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Investigators did not say where the images were taken or what led them to suspect the car was involved in the slayings. Police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in an email Monday that the agency has received tips regarding the car but did not elaborate.
“We have a very, very strong link,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Sunday. “We have a vehicle of interest. … We have got to find this vehicle.”
Gallegos said he could not comment on what kind of gun or guns were used in the shootings, or whether police know how many suspects were involved in the violence.
President Joe Biden said he was “angered and saddened” by the killings and that his administration “stands strongly with the Muslim community.”
“These hateful attacks have no place in America,” Biden said Sunday in a tweet.The conversation about safety has also dominated WhatsApp groups and email groups that Almontaser is on.
“What we’ve seen happen in New Mexico is very chilling for us as a Muslim minority community in the United States that has endured so much backlash and discrimination” since the 9/11 attacks, she said. “It’s frightening. It’s scary.”
Last year, a poll by the Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 found that 53% of Americans at the time had unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42% who had favorable ones. That stood in contrast to Americans’ opinions about Christianity and Judaism, for which most respondents expressed favorable views.
