Hate Crimes

Elton John Performs At The White House

The White House has always had musical guests come and perform, but what is the history and strategy behind these visits?

From Wembley Stadium in London to Madison Square Garden in New York City, Sir Elton John has performed on some of the biggest stages in the world. Friday, he performed for a relatively smaller crowd: an audience of 2,000 people at the White House.

Over the past decade, the White House has hosted a slew of musical guests.

Artists like Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Lin Manuel-Miranda have performed at the White House as part of the Obama administration’s celebrations of American music.

Singer Kid Rock attended the Trump administration’s signing ceremony for the Music Modernization Act.

And performers like Olivia Rodrigo and the K-Pop boy band BTS have spoken at the White House to advocate for the COVID-19 vaccine and to address the issue of anti-Asian hate crimes.

David Jackson is a professor of political science at Bowling Green State University.

“The demographics that each of the artists bring with them are demographics that the party is trying to persuade,” said Jackson.

Jackson has been researching the political influence of celebrity endorsements for the past two decades, and he’s noted that since President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, the administration’s choices for musical guests and performances can be seen as “an attempt to bring together generations.”

Some of the performers during the 2020 Democratic National Convention included Gen Z pop star Billie Eilish, folk rock musician Stephen Stills and Broadway singer Billy Porter.

“A celebrity endorsement’s a great thing. It gives energy, enthusiasm, helps raise money, helps persuade people, but it’s a lot more complicated than that,” he said.

He noted that celebrity endorsements are only effective if the celebrities are familiar, likable, and credible in the eyes of fans.

Elton John has long been an advocate for LGBTQ rights and a major activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The British icon’s performance at the White House has been dubbed “a night when hope and history rhyme,” and honorees in attendance include “everyday history-makers” like teachers, health care professionals and LGBTQ advocates.

Source: newsy.com

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9/11 Memorials Stretch Across The U.S. To Honor And Educate

As we inch closer to the 9/11 anniversary, memorials will become a gathering place – for people to mourn and for younger generations to learn.

September 11, 2001, brings chilling memories rushing back.

“You could smell death in the air,” 9/11 Remembered The Traveling Memorial CEO Erick Robertson said.

Moments of terror are etched into a span of generations in our nation.

“I recovered bodies every day, all day,” Robertson continued.

He did two tours on Ground Zero and launched a mission to help people across the U.S. understand the gravity of the tragedy using a mobile memorial with artifacts.

“We carry on the tradition of honoring the victims, the survivors and everyone that played a hand in it that day,” he said.

Twenty-one years ago, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial planes. They crashed two into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center; a third plane into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane into a Pennsylvania field.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed, and hundreds more who responded to the call later died.

Thousands of steel parts from the World Trade Center were turned into tributes across all 50 states.

“The numbers are a little bit fuzzy, but there’s at least a thousand registered memorials across the United States,” Roberston said.

Those monuments pay tribute to lives lost and first responders.

Eddie Jones is an architect and the team leader for “Moving Memories,” which is a 9/11 memorial in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Collectively, we were very proud that Arizona was one of the first to send first responders — firefighters mostly,” he said.

His team is focused on creating a timeless work of art using a natural source of light. As the sun moves, it reveals inscriptions that describe experiences, emotions, and reactions from Arizonans to the devastation.

“It’s able to speak of the tragedy and remind us of how emotional it was and how those emotions varied, from revenge to forgiveness,” Jones continued.

The circular canopy outlines two timelines: what happened and what followed.

“We worked with the widow of the one Arizonian that was killed at the memorial, as well as two brothers of victims who lived here in Arizona, as well as the families of victims of hate crimes that happened,” memorial architect and artist Maria Salenger said.

Memorials across the country vary in size and cost and design.

At one in Phoenix, every September, 11 at noon, the sun shines a light on a salvaged piece of steel from Ground Zero.

Beneath it, is brick rubble from the Pentagon attack and soil from the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Each memorial is unique, but they all share a purpose to educate new generations and give a mourning generation a permanent place to reflect.

“When we make memorials, it’s to keep that honor and that vigil that’s going to recognize heroes and people and significance in our lives so that they are not forgotten the way we knew them in their real lives,” Robertson said.

He told Newsy to this day, memorials honoring the victims of 9/11 are still going up.

He plans to attend a bridge dedication this weekend.

Source: newsy.com

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Biden To Host Unity Summit Against Hate-Fueled Violence

By Associated Press
August 19, 2022

Biden will deliver a keynote speech at the event, which the White House says will include civil rights groups and victims of extremist violence.

President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.”

The White House announced Friday that President Biden will host the United We Stand Summit on Sept. 15, highlighting the “corrosive effects” of violence on public safety and democracy. Advocates pushed President Biden to hold the event after 10 Black people were killed at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in May, aiming as well to address a succession of hate-driven violence in cities including El Paso, Texas; Pittsburgh; and Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

“As President Biden said in Buffalo after the horrific mass shooting earlier this year, in the battle for the soul of our nation ‘we must all enlist in this great cause of America,'” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “The United We Stand Summit will present an important opportunity for Americans of all races, religions, regions, political affiliations, and walks of life to take up that cause together.”

President Biden will deliver a keynote speech at the gathering, which the White House says will include civil rights groups, faith leaders, business executives, law enforcement, gun violence prevention advocates, former members of violent hate groups, the victims of extremist violence and cultural figures. The White House emphasized that it also intends to bring together Democrats and Republicans, as well as political leaders on the federal, state and local levels to unite against hate-motivated violence.

President Biden, a Democrat, has frequently cited 2017’s white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, with bringing him out of political retirement to challenge then-President Donald Trump in 2020. He promised during that campaign to work to bridge political and social divides and to promote national unity, but fulfilling that cause remains a work in progress.

Sindy Benavides, the CEO of League of United Latin American Citizens, said the genesis of the summit came after the Buffalo massacre, as her organization along with the Anti-Defamation League, the National Action Network and other groups wanted to press the Biden administration to more directly tackle extremist threats.

“As civil rights organizations, social justice organizations, we fight every day against this, and we wanted to make sure to acknowledge that government needs to have a leading role in addressing right-wing extremism,” she said.

The White House did not outline the lineup of speakers or participants, saying it would come closer to the event. It also would not preview any specific policy announcements by President Biden. Officials noted Biden last year signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and released the nation’s first National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.

Benavides said President Biden holding the summit would help galvanize the country to address the threats of hate-inspired violence but also said she hoped for “long-term solutions” to emerge from the summit.

“What’s important to us is addressing mental health, gun control reform, addressing misinformation, disinformation and malinformation,” she said. “We want policy makers to focus on common sense solutions so we don’t see this type of violence in our communities. And we want to see the implementation of policies that reduce violence.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Suspect In Albuquerque, New Mexico Muslim Killings Denies Involvement

Muhammed Syed of Albuquerque, New Mexico was arrested Monday after a traffic stop for the fatal shootings of four Muslim men.

After he was detained by New Mexico police, the suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community — and told authorities he was so unnerved by the violence that he was driving to Houston, Texas in search of a new home for his family, court documents said.

The documents made public Tuesday night in a criminal complaint said 51-year-old Muhammad Syed had only clothing, shoes and a handgun in his car when he was arrested Monday during a traffic stop more than 100 miles from his Albuquerque home.

But investigators determined that bullet casings found in Syed’s vehicle matched the caliber of the weapons believed to have been used in two of the killings and that casings found at those crime scenes were linked to a gun found at Syed’s home, the criminal complaint said.

Syed, an Afghan immigrant, told detectives with assistance from a Pashto interpreter that he had been with the special forces in Afghanistan and fought against the Taliban, the complaint said. He also denied any involvement in the killings during the interview with detectives, according to the complaint.

The ambush killings of the four Muslim men in different outside locations around Albuquerque sent fear rippling through the Muslim community of New Mexico’s largest city but generated tips that led to the arrest of Syed, who knew the victims, authorities said.

He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon. Prosecutors planned to ask that he be held without bail pending trial and court documents did not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Following the arrest, Albuquerque’s Muslim community breathed “an incredible sigh of relief,” said Ahmad Assed, president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico. “Lives have been turned upside down.”

The first killing last November was followed by three more between July 26 and Aug. 5.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said it was not clear yet whether the deaths should be classified as hate crimes or serial killings or both.

Syed had lived in the United States for about five years, police said.

“The offender knew the victims to some extent, and an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings,” a police statement said, although investigators were still working to identify how they had crossed paths.

When asked specifically if Syed, a Sunni Muslim, was angry that his daughter married a Shiite Muslim, Deputy Police Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock did not respond directly. He said “motives are still being explored fully to understand what they are.”

Assed acknowledged that “there was a marriage,” but he cautioned against coming to any conclusions about the motivation of Syed, who occasionally attended the center’s mosque.

In 2017, a boyfriend of Syed’s daughter reported to police that Syed, his wife and one of their sons had pulled him out of a car, punching and kicking him before driving away, according to court documents. The boyfriend, who was found with a bloody nose, scratches and bruises, told police that he was attacked because they did not want her in a relationship with him.

Syed was arrested in May 2018 after a fight with his wife turned violent, court documents said. Prosecutors said both cases were later dismissed after the victims declined to press charges.

Syed also was arrested in 2020 after he was accused of refusing to pull over for police after running a traffic light, but that case was eventually dismissed, court documents said.

The Albuquerque slayings drew the attention of President Joe Biden, who said such attacks “have no place in America.” They also sent a shudder through Muslim communities across the U.S. Some people questioned their safety and limited their movements.

“There is no justification for this evil. There is no justification to take an innocent life,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations, said at a Tuesday news conference in Washington, D.C.

He called the killings “deranged behavior.”

The earliest case involves the November killing of 62-year-old Mohammad Ahmadi from Afghanistan.

Naeem Hussain, a 25-year-old man from Pakistan, was killed last Friday. His death came just days after those of 27-year-old Muhammad Afzaal Hussain and 41-year-old Aftab Hussein who were also from Pakistan and members of the same mosque.

Ehsan Chahalmi, the brother-in-law of Naeem Hussain, said he was “a generous, kind, giving, forgiving and loving soul that has been taken away from us forever.”

Investigators consider Syed to be the primary suspect in the deaths of Naeem Hussain and Ahmadi but have not yet filed charges in those cases.

The announcement that the shootings appeared to be linked produced more than 200 tips, including one from the Muslim community that police credited with leading them to the Syed family.

Police said they were about to search Syed’s Albuquerque home on Monday when they saw him drive away in a Volkswagen Jetta that investigators believe was used in at least one of the slayings.

Syed’s sons were questioned and released, according to authorities.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Man Charged In Killings Of 4 Muslim Men In New Mexico

Muhammad Syed was arrested after a traffic stop more than 100 miles away from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The ambush killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shook the community but inspired a flood of information, including a tip that led to the arrest of a local Muslim man originally from Afghanistan who knew the victims, authorities said.

Muhammad Syed, 51, was arrested on Monday after a traffic stop more than 100 miles away from his home in Albuquerque. He was charged with killing two victims and was identified as the prime suspect in the other two slayings, authorities announced Tuesday.

The Muslim community is breathing “an incredible sigh of relief,” said Ahmad Assed, president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico. “Lives have been turned upside down.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Syed had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

The first killing last November was followed by three more between July 26 and Aug. 5.

Police Chief Harold Medina said it was not clear yet whether the deaths should be classified as hate crimes or serial killings or both.

Syed was from Afghanistan and had lived in the United States for about five years, police said.

Assed acknowledged that “there was a marriage,” but he cautioned against coming to any conclusions about the motivation of Syed, who occasionally attended the center’s mosque.

Police said Syed gave them a statement but didn’t disclose details.

The slayings drew the attention of President Joe Biden, who said such attacks “have no place in America.” They also sent a shudder through Muslim communities across the U.S. Some people questioned their safety and limited their movements.

He called the killings “deranged behavior.”

The earliest case involves the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, from Afghanistan.

Naeem Hussain, a 25-year-old man from Pakistan, was killed Friday night. 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.

Ehsan Chahalmi, the brother-in-law of Naeem Hussain, said he was “a generous, kind, giving, forgiving and loving soul that has been taken away from us forever.”

For now, Syed is charged in the killings of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain because bullet casings found at the crime scenes were linked to a gun found at his home, authorities said.

Investigators consider Syed to be the primary suspect in the deaths of Naeem Hussain and Ahmadi but have not yet filed charges in those cases.

The announcement that the shootings appeared to be linked produced more than 200 tips, including one from the Muslim community that police credited with leading them to the Syed family.

Police said they were about to search Syed’s Albuquerque home on Monday when they saw him drive away in a Volkswagen Jetta that investigators believe was used in at least one of the slayings.

Officers followed him to Santa Rosa, about 110 miles east of Albuquerque, where they pulled him over. Multiple firearms were recovered from his home and car, police said.

Syed’s sons were questioned and released, according to authorities.

Prosecutors expect to file murder charges in state court and are considering adding a federal case, authorities said.

Shiites make up the second largest branch in Islam after Sunnis.

Aneela Abad, general secretary at the Islamic center, said the two Muslim communities in New Mexico enjoy warm ties.

“Our Shiite community has always been there for us and we, Sunnis, have always been there for them,” she said.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain had worked as a field organizer for Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s campaign.

“Muhammad was kind, hopeful, optimistic,” she said, describing him as a city planner “who believed in democracy and social change, and who believed that we could, in fact, build a brighter future for our communities and for our world.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Police: Suspect In 4 Muslim Men’s Killings Detained

The killings have sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities in New Mexico and beyond and fueled a race to find who was responsible.

Albuquerque police say they have detained the “primary suspect” in the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city.

Police Chief Harold Medina on Tuesday announced the update on Twitter. The killings have sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities in New Mexico and beyond and fueled a race to find who was responsible.

“We tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved in a recent murder of a Muslim man in Albuquerque. The driver was detained and he is our primary suspect for the murders,” the tweet said.

No other information was immediately available. Police say they will provide an update on Tuesday afternoon.

Naeem Hussain was killed Friday night, and the three other men died in ambush shootings.

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.

Authorities on Monday sought help searching for a vehicle that appeared to be the one discovered on Tuesday. The common elements in the deaths were the victims’ race and religion, officials said, and police in Albuquerque are trying to determine if the deaths are linked.

Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim community leader in New York, 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.

Aneela Abad, general secretary at the Islamic Center of New Mexico, described a community reeling from the killings, its grief compounded by confusion and fear of what may follow.

“We are just completely shocked and still trying to comprehend and understand what happened, how and why,” she said.

Some people have avoided going out unless “absolutely necessary,” and some Muslim university students have been wondering whether it is safe for them to stay in the city, she said. The center has also beefed up its security.

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 was 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 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.”

Few anti-Muslim hate crimes have been recorded in Albuquerque over the last five years, according to FBI data cited by Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor of criminal justice at California State University at San Bernardino.

From 2017 through 2020, there was one anti-Muslim hate crime a year. The highest recent number was in 2016, when Albuquerque police recorded six out of a total of 25 hate crimes.

That largely tracks with national trends, which hit the lowest numbers in a decade in 2020, only to increase by 45% in 2021 in a dozen cities and states, Levin said.

Albuquerque authorities say they cannot determine if the slayings were hate crimes until they have identified a suspect and a motive.

Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said bias killings are often perpetrated by a small group of people, typically young white men. A lone perpetrator is rare.

“These are basically total losers by every dimension, whether it’s social, economic, psychological, what have you,” he said. “They’re filled with hatred for one reason or another and target a particular group that they see, in their mind, to blame for all their problems in life.”

It was not clear whether the victims knew their attacker or attackers.

The most recent victim was found dead after police received a call of a shooting. Authorities declined to say whether the killing was carried out in a way similar to the other deaths.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain had worked as a field organizer for a local congresswoman’s campaign.

Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury issued a statement praising him as “one of the kindest and hardest working people” she has ever known. She said the urban planner was “committed to making our public spaces work for every person and cleaning up legacy pollution.”

As land-use director for the city of Española — more than 85 miles north of Albuquerque — Hussain worked to improve conditions and inclusivity for disadvantaged minorities, the mayor’s office said.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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String Of Killings Targeting Muslims Continues In Albuquerque

There has been a string of murders targeting Muslims in Albuquerque, New Mexico, prompting the Muslim community to be on high alert.

The Muslim community in Albuquerque, New Mexico is on high alert, after the murder of a Muslim man Friday night. It’s the latest in a string of murders of Muslims that authorities say may be linked. Just last week, two other Muslim men were shot to death.

“Our community has been devastated, as you can imagine. We’ve never gone through anything like this before. This is a really a surreal time for us. We’re in fear of the safety of our children, our families,” said Ahmad Assed, the president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico.

The Albuquerque Journal identified the latest victim as Naeem Hussain. Islamic leaders say Hussain was killed shortly after he attended funeral services for the other two victims: Afzaal Hussain and Aftab Hussein. Nine months ago, another Muslim man, Mohammad Ahmadi, was murdered.

“We’re very concerned that these are obviously tied together, they’re obviously targeting Muslim men and happening right here in our own refugee community, historically which has been a very safe and welcoming and inclusive place for decades,” said Albuquerque Mayor Timothy Keller.

The Islamic Center of New Mexico estimates about 3,000 to 5,000 Muslims live in or around Albuquerque.

Nationally, FBI statistics released in October found about 1,000 anti-Islamic hate crimes were reported in U.S. the previous five years.

Pew Research indicates that in the first few months of the Trump administration, 48% of Muslims polled said they experienced some form of discrimination. That was an 8% increase from 2007.

“Folks in our community, the Muslim community especially, are afraid to even leave their house, especially at night. They’re afraid to pray, they are afraid to start school,” Keller said.

The Albuquerque police have stepped up patrolling in the Muslim community and have partnered with the FBI in this investigation. Local authorities are also asking the public to help.

Cecily Barker is a deputy chief of the Albuquerque Police Department.

“We have photos of a Volkswagen Jetta or Passat. What we really want you to focus on is the first picture. The second picture does have notations of possible damage to the vehicle. However, if you see a dark colored four-door sedan, a Volkswagen Passat or Jetta, we encourage you to call the police with that information,” Barker said.

The shootings alarmed both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who tweeted support for the Muslim community.

For Albuquerque’s mayor, it’s about doing more.

“We have marshaled every resource to have now police presence at all our mosques during prayer time. We’re working with our different police departments with respect to safety at schools and specific sort of buddy system related programs at school for kids. We’re even delivering meals for families that are afraid to leave their house, even to get food,” Keller said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement, “the lives of Albuquerque Muslims are in danger” the organization urged all Muslims in the U.S. to “exercise vigilance and enhance their security.”

Source: newsy.com

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Man Who Shot Ahmaud Arbery Gets Life Sentence For Hate Crime

By Associated Press
August 8, 2022

His punishment is largely symbolic, as McMichael was sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for Arbery’s murder.

The White man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery after chasing the 25-year-old Black man in a Georgia neighborhood was sentenced Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.

Travis McMichael was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the port city of Brunswick. His punishment is largely symbolic, as McMichael was sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for Arbery’s murder.

Wood said McMichael had received a “fair trial.”

“And it’s not lost on the court that it was the kind of trial that Ahmaud Arbery did not receive before he was shot and killed,” the judge said.

McMichael was one of three defendants convicted in February of federal hate crime charges. His father, Greg McMichael, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan had sentencing hearings scheduled later Monday.

The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and used a pickup truck to chase Arbery after he ran past their home on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar. Investigators determined he was unarmed and had committed no crimes.

Arbery’s killing on Feb. 23, 2020, became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice and killings of unarmed Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. Those two cases also resulted in the Justice Department bringing federal charges.

Wood scheduled back-to-back hearings Monday to individually sentence each of the defendants, starting with Travis McMichael, who killed Arbery with a shotgun after the street chase initiated by his father and joined by a neighbor, who are also White.

Greg McMichael and Bryan also face possible life sentences after a jury convicted them in February of federal hate crimes, concluding that they violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because of his race. All three men were also found guilty of attempted kidnapping, and the McMichaels face additional penalties for using firearms to commit a violent crime.

A state Superior Court judge imposed life sentences for all three men in January for Arbery’s murder, with both McMichaels denied any chance of parole.

All three defendants have remained jailed in coastal Glynn County, in the custody of U.S. marshals, while awaiting sentencing after their federal convictions in January.

Because they were first charged and convicted of murder in a state court, protocol would have them turned them over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their life terms in a state prison.

In a court filings last week, both Travis and Greg McMichael asked the judge to instead divert them to a federal prison, saying they won’t be safe in a Georgia prison system that’s the subject of a U.S. Justice Department investigation focused on violence between inmates.

Arbery’s family has insisted the McMichaels and Bryan should serve their sentences in a state prison, arguing a federal penitentiary wouldn’t be as tough. His parents objected forcefully before the federal trial when both McMichaels sought a plea deal that would have included a request to transfer them to federal prison. The judge ended up rejecting the plea agreement.

A federal judge doesn’t have the authority to order the state to relinquish its lawful custody of inmates to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said Ed Tarver, an Augusta lawyer and former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. He said the judge could request that the state corrections agency turn the defendants over to a federal prison.

The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and jumped in a truck to chase Arbery after spotting him running past their home outside the port city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck, helping cut off Arbery’s escape. He also recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range as Arbery threw punches and grabbed at the shotgun.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery had been stealing from a nearby house under construction. But authorities later concluded he was unarmed and had committed no crimes. Arbery’s family has long insisted he was merely out jogging.

Still, more than two months passed before any charges were filed in Arbery’s death. The McMichaels and Bryan were arrested only after the graphic video of the shooting leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police.

During the February hate crimes trial, prosecutors fortified their case that Arbery’s killing was motivated by racism by showing the jury roughly two dozen text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racist slurs and made disparaging comments about Black people. A woman testified to hearing an angry rant from Greg McMichael in 2015 in which he said: “All those Blacks are nothing but trouble.”

Defense attorneys for the three men argued the McMichaels and Bryan didn’t pursue Arbery because of his race but acted on an earnest — though erroneous — suspicion that Arbery had committed crimes in their neighborhood.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, Police Seek Car In Killings Of 4 Muslim Men

By Associated Press
August 8, 2022

Police are still trying to determine if there are any connections among the killings and whether they were hate crimes.

Authorities investigating whether the killings of four Muslim men are connected said Sunday that they need help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the deaths in New Mexico’s largest city.

Albuquerque police said they released photos of the vehicle suspected of being used in the four homicides, hoping people could help identify the car. Police said the vehicle sought is a dark gray or silver four-door Volkswagen with dark tinted windows, and appears to be a Jetta.

Police did not say where the images were taken or what led them to suspect the car was involved in any of the crimes.

“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.”

Police still are trying to determine if there are any connections among the killings. A Muslim man was killed Friday night in Albuquerque and ambush shootings killed three Muslim men over the past nine months. The common elements in all the victims are their race and religion, deputy police commander Kyle Hartsock said.

Police said Saturday that the victim in the latest killing was a Muslim from South Asia who is believed to be in his mid-20s.

The man, whose identity hasn’t yet been confirmed by investigators, was found dead after police received a call of a shooting.

Earlier this week, police confirmed that local detectives and federal law enforcement officers were looking for possible ties among the separate crimes.

Two of the men — Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Aftab Hussein, 41 — were killed in the past week, and both were from Pakistan and members of the same mosque. The third case involves the November killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, a Muslim man of South Asian descent.

Police declined to say whether Friday night’s homicide was carried out in a way similar to the other deaths.

Authorities said they can’t say yet if the shootings were hate crimes until they have identified a suspect and can determine a motive.

“We will bring this person or these persons to justice,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Sunday.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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3 Men Face Sentencing For Hate Crimes In Ahmaud Arbery’s Death

By Associated Press

and Newsy Staff
August 8, 2022

Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of federal hate crimes after being sentenced to life in prison for murder.

Months after they were sentenced to life in prison for murder, the three White men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in a Georgia neighborhood faced a second round of criminal penalties Monday for federal hate crimes committed in the deadly pursuit of the 25-year-old Black man.

U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood scheduled back-to-back hearings to individually sentence each of the defendants, starting with Travis McMichael, who blasted Arbery with a shotgun after the street chase initiated by his father and joined by a neighbor.

When they return to court Monday in Georgia, McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan face possible life sentences after a jury convicted them in February of federal hate crimes, concluding that they violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because of his race. All three men were also found guilty of attempted kidnapping, and the McMichaels face additional penalties for using firearms to commit a violent crime.

Whatever punishments they receive in federal court could ultimately prove more symbolic than anything. A state Superior Court judge imposed life sentences for all three men in January for Arbery’s murder, with both McMichaels denied any chance of parole.

All three defendants have remained jailed in coastal Glynn County, in the custody of U.S. marshals, while awaiting sentencing after their federal convictions in January.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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