An attacker shot and killed a New York imam and his assistant near their mosque in the borough of Queens during a brazen attack carried out in broad daylight on Saturday.
Police said the imam, Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, Thara Uddin, 64, were shot just before 2pm in the city’s Ozone Park neighborhood.
The working class area, on the border between Queens and Brooklyn, is home to many Muslim families from Bangladesh.
Photo: Reuters
Both men were taken to nearby Jamaica Hospital with gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead there.
The shooting comes amid a climate of growing anti-Muslim sentiment as a series of deadly attacks have unfolded in the US and abroad, some of which have been claimed by the Islamic State group, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US.
The two men were approached from behind by a suspect, who witnesses saw fleeing the scene with a gun, according to police. The street on which they were killed is Liberty Avenue.
Officers said the individual is still at large and the investigation is ongoing.
US media reported that the men were shot after leaving al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque after Saturday afternoon prayers, dressed in traditional Muslim garb.
However, police said the motive is unknown and no arrests have been made.
“There is nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate that they were targeted because of their faith,” police told reporters.
New York Mayor’s Office community affairs unit senior adviser Sarah Sayeed said that “the NYPD [New York Police Department] is looking at all angles of this crime, including the hate crime.”
Brooklyn’s Masjid al-Aman Mosque president Kobir Chowdhury said: “Please, read my lips. This is a hate crime, no matter which way you look at it. It’s hate against humanity, it’s hate against Muslims, these are Islamophobes who are causing these kind of troubles.”
During a vigil, the faithful prayed outside al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque, heads bent and their palms facing the sky.
“Imagine your father gunned down for no reason, and then let that feeling, let that motivate you to come out of your silence,” Council on American-Islamic Relations New York chapter director Afaf Nasher said at a tense news conference in front of the mosque.
“When we stay silent we allow crimes to continue to occur,” she said. “So every single one of us shares in this responsibility. And let’s not forget the victims who are essential to all of this.”
US Representative Nydia Velazquez said on Twitter that she was “horrified” by the shooting.
“All NYers must stand united in condemning acts like these,” she added.
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