In a letter Friday to Attorney General Eric Holder, the groups said there is enough circumstantial evidence to “warrant a federal hate crime investigation” into the deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammed, 21, and her 19-year-old sister Razan Abu-Salha.
Such a step would be important to those victims’ families, as well as many other Muslims across the United States, states the letter, which is signed by a number of Islamic and Arab organizations plus Jewish, Sikh, Asian-American and other groups.
“Federal leadership is necessary in this case in order to send the strongest message to the public that acts of violence like these have no place in civil society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the groups write. “…As American Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim now, more than ever, fear for their safety, the American people need to hear a strong message our nation’s chief law enforcement officer.”
They aren’t the only ones demanding action from Washington. The story has also gotten traction internationally, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying he has called President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry about it.
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Karen Hicks, who has been in the process of divorce, said her husband had been at odds with various neighbors of various backgrounds over parking. That’s what this is about, she says, contending that what happened is not a hate crime.
She said, “I can say with my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or the victims’ faith.”
Opinion: 3 slain college students strived for a better world
CNN’s Ben Brumfield, Catherine E. Shoichet and Jason Carroll contributed to this report.
