Suspected imam killer charged – Fearful Muslim NYers demand stepped-up security

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NEW YORK, Aug 16, (AFP): New York police charged a suspect Monday with the double murder of a New York imam and his friend, in a brutal slaying that sent shock waves through US Muslim communities. Oscar Morel, a 35-year-old Brooklyn man,was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, NYPD detective Hubert Reyes told AFP.

Fearful Muslim New Yorkers have demanded stepped-up security and justice as hundreds of mourners attended the two men’s funeral service in the borough of Queens. Maulama Akonjee, 55, who migrated to the United States from Bangladesh, and his friend, 64-year-old Thara Uddin, were shot dead in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon in the Ozone Park neighborhood.

Morel was taken into custody on Sunday, the NYPD told AFP. Following his detention, he was charged with a hit-and-run that took place three miles (about fi ve kilometers) away from the double murder and the assault of a police officer, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told a news conference. The murder charges were added later Monday after police recovered a gun and clothing from his house that were similar to those believed used by the shooter, US media reported. Morel was known to have been in the area of the double murder eight minutes before the homicide and took off directly afterward, Boyce said. Police said Morel was from East New York, a troubled area of Brooklyn, and was believed to have a job in a warehouse.

Motives
Authorities had earlier said hate crime was being investigated as a possible motive — as demanded by Muslim elders — but did not provide any information on the suspect’s motives Monday evening. The New York Daily News quoted police sources as saying the killer may have been settling a score in a feud between Muslims and Hispanics, suggestions that have been dismissed by members of the Muslim community. “We want justice, we want justice, we want justice,” chanted Muslim elders at a chaotic news conference before Monday’s funeral.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations had offered a $10,000 reward for any information that could lead to an arrest or conviction. Community leaders, clearly rattled by rising Islamophobia, slammed “xenophobic statements” made against Muslims in speeches by “politicians and candidates seeking the highest office in the land” — a clear reference to Donald Trump. Trump, the New York billionaire and Republican nominee, used a keynote address Monday to demand ideological screening tests for immigrants, saying immigrants and their children had been responsible for a string of extremist attacks in America. One speaker at the pre-funeral conference demanded security cameras be erected outside mosques and for the street where the two men were shot to be renamed in their honor.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who paid his respects with other elected officials, promised extra police would protect mosques and Muslim communities, saying the entire city stood shoulderto- shoulder with those in mourning. “We know there are voices all over this country who are spewing hate, trying to create division, trying to turn one American against another,” de Blasio said. “We’re not going to let them continue to encourage acts of hatred.” The working class area where the victims were killed, on the border between Queens and Brooklyn, is home to many Muslim families from Bangladesh.

Akonjee had been carrying more than $1,000, but the attacker did not take the money, police said. Morel is expected to appear in court on Tuesday after being charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of a New York Muslim imam and his assistant, who were gunned down over the weekend, police said.

Arraigned
Police said Morel was being held early on Tuesday morning and was expected to be arraigned later in the day. Morel had been questioned by police following his arrest on charges related to a hit-and-run traffic accident on Saturday, the day of the shootings.

Imam Maulama Akonjee was a devout spiritual leader beloved by his Bangladeshi Muslim community, according to those who knew him in the New York City neighborhood where he lived, worshiped and died violently. Nearly everyone who knew the cleric and his religious associate Thara Uddin asked the same question: What reason would anyone have to gun down two revered, humble men as they left their mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens on Saturday? In a diverse neighborhood with a reputation for tolerance and relatively low crime, the mystery has raised suspicions among many residents that the brazen, daylight murders were inspired by hatred of their religious or ethnic identities. An outdoor funeral was held for the two men on Monday.

Badrul Khan, founder of Ozone Park’s Al-Furqan Jame Mosque, said he had known Akonjee for a long time. The 55-year-old cleric, a father of seven, emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh several years ago, he said.

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