New Mexico murders open fresh wounds for London, Ont. Muslim community
A string of murders in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has that community on edge, as four Muslim men have been targeted and ambushed in separate attacks over several months.
“Definitely, it is concerning, because we've lived through that experience already. And that there's still no sense of closure,” says Abd Al Fatah Twakkal, a member of the London Council of Imams.
Albuquerque police made an arrest on Tuesday, and while the motive is not clear yet, police believe the victims were targeted for their race and religion.
Wounds are still very fresh for the London Muslim community who lost three generations of the Afzaal family in June 2021 in what police allege was a targeted attack.
“It is a statistically insignificant number of people that would go to this extreme, but one person is enough to be able to wreak havoc on an entire community,” says Twakkal.
Like the Quebec City Muslim community who suffered a horrendous attack in 2017, Twakkal says they will not cower in the face of such hate.
“For those who hate, if that's the goal for them to have us go into hiding, or not to show ourselves visibly as Muslims. I mean, this is a part of our identity,” Twakkal adds.
Police in New Mexico found a vehicle they had sought the public’s assistance in locating and arrested the driver. They now say they are treating him as their primary suspect.
— With files from CTV News and The Associated Press
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