Headlines
Obama condemns 'outrageous murders' of Muslim students
US President Barack Obama condemned the "brutal and outrageous murders"
of three Muslim students in the state of North Carolina earlier this
week and said that no one should be targeted for their looks or modes of
worship.
"No one in the United States of America should ever be
targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they
worship," Obama said in a statement, according to a CNN report Friday.
"Michelle and I offer our condolences to the victims' loved ones," the US president said.
The
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is probing the killings along
with local police, who believe that the shooting was related to a
parking dispute, though they have not ruled out the possibility of it
being a hate crime.
Deah Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad
Abu Salha, 21 and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu Salha, 19, were sot
dead in their apartment by the 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, who
surrendered to the authorities "without incident".
The three
victims were students of the University of North Carolina and the
victims' family said that they believed the killings were motivated by
anti-Muslim sentiment.
"As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family," Obama said.
"Whenever
anyone is taken from us before their time, we remember how they lived
their lives -- and the words of one of the victims should inspire the
way we live ours," he noted.
Obama then quoted one of the victims, Yusor Mohammed.
"Growing
up in America has been such a blessing," Yusor had said recently. "It
doesn't matter where you come from. There (are) so many different people
from so many different places, of different backgrounds and religions
-- but here, we're all one."