Muhammad Syed
Image: Albuquerque Police Department
Over the last few months several Muslim men were murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Specifically, four men. The murders started in November of last year and ran through early August. Local Muslim community was on edge, with some members of the community reporting unease about going out and living their regular lives.
Many members of the public assumed this was the work of an anti-Muslim bigot. None other than President Joe Biden [twitted] about it on 7 August:
I am angered and saddened by the horrific killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque. While we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ families, and my Administration stands strongly with the Muslim community.
These hateful attacks have no place in America.
However, the events took a rather unexpected turn a mere day later when the law enforcement apprehended the main, and at this point only, suspect in this crime spree. The main is one Muhammad Syed (pictured above). He may be many things but an anti-Muslim bigot is not one of them as he is a Muslim himself, and he is even believed to have worshiped at the same mosque with some if not all of his alleged victims. The story is still murky and Mr Syed has not been fully investigated, let alone convicted of these crimes. But there seems to be some fairly strong evidence against him, including ballistic evidence tying him to a likely murder weapon.
Notably, as of this writing, Joe Biden's tweet above has not been officially acknowledged as erroneous. Nor I am sure have most of those proclaiming this to be an Islamophobic terror campaign acknowledged their mistake. And that goes for the mainstream media, as usual.
It is also interesting that if it wasn't for Matt Christiansen I'd likely never have heard of this story. And that is telling.
So remember this story next time you hear about some outrage that sounds politically advantageous to any major political power. It may very well be reported with slant. Or not even be real at all.
References
‘Anti-Muslim’ Murders Turn Out to Be by a Muslim From the Same Mosque | ‘Clearly Hate-Driven’
Matt Christiansen, 13 August 2022
Killings of 4 Men in Albuquerque Leave Muslim Community in Fear
Neelam Bohra and Vimal Patel, New York Times, 7 August 2022
Police arrest suspect in killings of Muslim men
Elise Kaplan, Albuquerque Journal, 9 August 2022