#Current Affairs
3 Young African Muslims Shot Execution Style: Many Questions To Be Answered
Fort Wayne Indiana was host to 3 execution style shootings in the past week. Law enforcement officials identified the bodies of Mohamed Taha Omar, 23, Adam K. Mekki, 20, and Muhannad A. Tairab, 17 on Wednesday in the evening to the house where 2 of the 3 young men lived on 800 East Lewis St. in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Appearing not to be gang related to the Fort Wayne police, motivations for this type of heinous act are completely unknown. Alex Rowe 23, who lives a few blocks from the house on East Lewis St. said, “Only two shootings happened since I moved over here in January. One was the day I moved in and another was a less than two weeks ago when a cop got shot.” The shootings have made four the total count for the year in Fort Wayne.
Mohamed Taha Omar
Just north of Indianapolis lives Eidi Mohamed, 20, a student at IUPI and employee for an interfaith organization who remembers all three of the Sudanese boys in middle school as “really into sports, specifically soccer.” “There are a few news channels here covering but it really isn’t getting attention like the Chapel Hill shooting” he went on to say. Asked whether or not the area has a history of overt racism towards Blacks or Muslims Mohamed recalled, “I’ve always heard about racist things going on in Fort Wayne, parts of Fort Wayne have a lot of African Americans and African Immigrants.”
Muhannad A. Tairab
In a report from The Journal Gazette, Police Chief Garry Hamilton and Public Safety Director Rusty York both said, “We’re pretty certain they weren’t targeted due to that” after questions about religious implication of the killing and that the house was at that moment a “Party House.” According to The Journal Gazette, York also added about the execution style killing, “There could’ve been a disturbance in the house or an argument of some kind. We just don’t know.”
Both Alex Rowe and Eidi Mohamed stated that outside of usual prejudice, this type of racial violence is unheard of.
Mustafa Kedio father of Mohamed Taha commented, “Right now I can’t say it’s a hate crime” and “The Fort Wayne Police Sheriff reported that it wasn’t in anyway related to any gang activity.”
Kedio recalled just finding out recently that, “Taha had been out of college for the last two semesters because of not being able to pay and in search of work.” “I think he was ashamed to tell me, but I would have paid for him.” Kedio is a former cab driver of 13 years in Chicago who recently began a labor job at a company called JPI. He insisted “my boy and the other two have never been involved with gangs and they do not have one thing in any of their records.”
As the story develops it is apparent that it carries the same weight as the Chapel Hill Shooting that initiated the hashtag #OurThreeWinners. The social media campaign erupted virally transcending the internet with Steph Curry paying homage to the hate crime by wearing their names on his game sneakers. On February 10 2015, Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were murdered in the same exact fashion as the young men in Fort Wayne.
Ian Maxton, a student living miles away from Fort Wayne agreed that it is “a very diverse yet highly segregated place.” “We mostly have robberies gone wrong, jealous lovers, and occasionally gang-related shoot-outs in the city. Never, to my knowledge, anything like this,” Maxton continued. Police officials are now working to attain details to a story that has many potential threads running through it.
National media has yet to begin to pry into exactly what has happened but Social Media is asking for a sizable amount of answers.
Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.
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Zain
February 28, 2016 at 12:46 AM
One question should be: how can we fix the major racism problem that is rampant in the ummah?
Former muslim now free
May 16, 2016 at 12:00 AM
You mean the racism by arab muslims against black muslims? You can’t, until black muslims understand the concept of “Stockholm syndrome”,. and how they have adopted the “religion” of those who originally enslaved them.
Arabic islam started and ran the longest going, largest and still ongoing slave trade in the world.African / black muslims are dupes.
M.Mahmud
February 28, 2016 at 1:22 AM
May Allah expose the criminals.
Muhammad Sahl
February 28, 2016 at 3:55 AM
I suppose America is only righteous in the movies. MS ~ Singapore
Snerdguy
February 28, 2016 at 7:15 AM
Other reports claim that they were killed in an abandoned house where young adults frequently gather. Considering the wide spread drug abuse problems in Fort Wayne, one need not be a rocket scientist to realize what was going on. It happens every day all over America. It’s not about race or religion. It’s about people suffering the consequences of their choices and the media shouldn’t be pretending they were some kind of innocent victims. It’s barely covered in the news any more because it’s ubiquitous to all cities. The U.S. has a major problem that is only second to auto accidents for killing young adults. The solution will require a complete turnaround of current drug policies and a major change of conservative attitudes.
LadyImani
February 28, 2016 at 9:16 AM
That is like somebody killing me & then you, a complete stranger who couldn’t possibly know that I DON’T DO DRUGS claiming it’s drug related eventhough the police, my family, & my friends WHO ALL KNOW ME say it’s definitely not. Get out of here with that mess, trying to discredit these young men because of your own prejudice. Yes people do drugs in the city that I live in but I DON’T & if someone executed me IT WOULDN’T BE RELATED TO DRUGS JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN THE WORLD, making things up about people who can’t speak for themselves.
Jonaid
February 29, 2016 at 2:11 PM
Salam Alaykum.
I second this comment by Ladylmani. Well said.
May Allah have mercy on these poor victims.
steve8714
May 15, 2016 at 8:35 PM
They didn’t have to be users for this to be a drug related killing. Wrong place, wrong time?
joJo
May 16, 2016 at 12:02 AM
You sound either on drugs or illiterate.
M.Mahmud
February 28, 2016 at 12:52 PM
Yes, I am not a rocket scientists and I realize your post is rubbish. God save the world lest you or anyone like you is put into any position of authority.
LaquwwataIllaBillah
February 28, 2016 at 4:55 PM
If these young men where white, Snerdguy wouldn’t be talking this bakwas.
midwestprincess
February 28, 2016 at 9:55 PM
Really? Because I’m white and was an addict. As a white female, it was pretty damn easy to hide before I got sober. They were found in a stash house. It doesnt’ mean they deserved to die, but it also means they could have been buying or dealing. Why does it matter if they were Muslim or not?
Rene
February 28, 2016 at 5:54 PM
“Considering the wide spread drug abuse problems in Fort Wayne, one need not be a rocket scientist to realize what was going on”.
Lets translate your conclusion : “Automatically..these young deceased men were dabbling and/or selling drugs because they were from Ft. Wayne Indiana and therefore , the three deserved what they got”.
So, all of the over 200,000 people who live in Ft. Wayne are automatically into dappling into drugs? Man… you must have conducted research about their private lives, interviewed sources, did a census report into the amount of people who are using/selling drugs in the city , go into a drug anonymous center or know friends who said that they actually did it. You must have. Otherwise, you have no right smearing these guys like you are doing right now.
I’m quite sure you have done research papers from time to time. Have you noticed how a teacher or college professor will tell you to cite your sources of where your information came from? They’ll also tell you to get more than one source like do interviews, get periodicals, books etc and lastly , to make sure that they are thorough, reliable and unbiased as possible. Otherwise..students/reporters/book writers can get in trouble for plagiarism, libel or slander for something they couldn’t prove/give credit . You don’t know anything about these young men, but you have automatically assumed the worse about them because of an abandoned house that they were in.
People like you are also the cause of people being sent to death row or going to jail for crimes that they didn’t commit. There have been people who have been totally innocent of any crime but who are in these predicaments because of who they hung around . In some cases, they did not always know what their friends were up to until the end and regardless of their innocence, the law automatically says they you’re guilty of being an accessory to a crime.It’s about knowing the law and applying to the right crime. Just because Fort Wayne is classified as a “drug haven” doesn’t make everybody a drug user/dealer in the city. Just like any U.S. city,they also have nice homes, nice people, people who are college graduates that also live there as well who have never have seen drugs in their lives. In order for you to validate a story , you have to have solid evidence/sources to back it. Just because these guys were shot to death didn’t mean they got killed because of your assumption them doing drugs.For all you know, it could have been a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. Plenty of people have also gotten killed for that.
The only thing that I will agree with you on is finding a solution to drug policies . Otherwise, assuming the worse in something that you not sure about only hurts your credibility.It could have be racially motivated, maybe they did/didn’t deal with drugs..we don’t know, but you can’t say that their ” choices” got them killed until you know exactly why they got killed.
AF
February 28, 2016 at 11:03 PM
The house had come to the attention of the police gang crime unit before these murders happened. I have heard marijuana and even meth were being partaken of there. Unfortunately, drug dens are known for these kinds of incidents. Drug theft, lack of payment, trespassing on the territory of another dealer. Who knows? What is very unlikely is that a Muslim-hating ideologue with a gun crashed a party house looking for Muslims and managed to kill three of them execution style.
One of the young men was not Muslim, but Christian, by the way. Are you still outraged about his death?
Muslims have made the mistake of jumping on the Islamophobia bandwagon before. The imam in the UK who was murdered is now found to have been killed by another Muslim. The Somali boy who fell to his death accidentally in Seattle sparked protests that it was an Islamophobic hate crime before anyone knew the facts. Very few Muslims are killed in this country by non-Muslims and even more rarely is it done on account of religious hatred.
Zekiya
February 29, 2016 at 6:37 AM
He is a Muslim so keep shut y do whites always blabb on things the have little knowledge on
ins
March 1, 2016 at 12:45 AM
All three of them were Muslims. Get ur facts straight.
AF
March 1, 2016 at 9:09 PM
From the Washington Post, Feb 28th:
“Local outlets described the victims as Muslim, but Darfur People’s Association founder and vice president Motasim Adam, who visited with the families Saturday, told the Associated Press that Omar and Tairab were Muslim and Mekki was Christian.”
Don’t shoot the messenger. I am sorry this gets in the way of your victim narrative.
SnerGuyIsAFággot
May 15, 2016 at 8:47 PM
Oh fúck you and your drugs… you people are lower than mággots…
Surah
February 28, 2016 at 9:17 AM
African *American… With absolutely no credible information you cannot make a connection with the Chapel Hill shooting.
GregAbdul
February 28, 2016 at 12:48 PM
three young Muslims have been killed in America. the parallel to Chapel Hill is obvious and racism is the only reason to go into denial mode.
M.Mahmud
February 29, 2016 at 3:01 PM
If they died Muslims, sooner or later they will enter Paradise and that is a success we haven’t been guarenteed yet.
So there is good in everything.
Rushing to conclusions is not appropriate and it often backfires.
Kathy Brown, Esq.
March 4, 2016 at 9:00 PM
No Abdul: It’s not ‘obvious’. That is unless you’re a whining ‘islamophobia’-obsessed muslim yourself.
You’re a real genius. Thank God-not allah-you’re not in law enforcement. You’d be a real star: Any muslims killed, anywhere, ever? Must be racism!
Brilliant.
Kathy Brown, Esq.
March 4, 2016 at 9:03 PM
Surah: Save your breath. The muslim victim train is unstoppable! Facts just get in the way of their unvarying destination, the land of ‘islamophobia’!
whiter than white
March 29, 2016 at 10:02 PM
Uh, first of all, God IS Allah, just in a different language.
Second of all, if Islamophobia didn’t exist, why have I, a white-passing Arab, have been treated nicely without the hijab but have been getting side-by-side and glares wherever I go with the hijab? Keep in mind, this happens in a city in CALIFORNIA that has a SIGNIFICANT MINORITY POPULATION. If Islamophobia doesn’t exist, why did my father get fired and have his things thrown out a day after 9/11? Why would Donald Trump be allowed to say things that literally violate the first amendment, and in fact get more support? If they were say, Jewish, he would have been disqualified immediately. Saying that people of ANY faith should be marked or unable to enter a country is horrible, but Jewish people in the US seem to get more sympathy, or are perceived as better.
Honey, there wouldn’t be a “victim train” if you people didn’t build it and force us on. :)
whiter than white
March 29, 2016 at 10:08 PM
Oh, and other people who “look brown” or are Sikh, Desi, and any other minority that resembles the stereotypical muslim get crap, too. People have had loved ones murdered because of 9/11, there are people who hold armed protests in front of mosques or attack them. The keffiyeh is a symbol of solidarity against British and Zionist militias, but it has been turned into a cute fashion accessory when you wear it, but a mark of terrorism when WE wear it. You like our food and think our mosques are pretty, but GOD FORBID we talk about or struggles. I am so, so sorry for bothering your fragile little heart by insinuating that life isn’t as easy for us as it is for you.
waymon lefall
February 28, 2016 at 11:49 AM
I Belive this act was done by some racist people against their religion, no witness, this is America. Jockobook.com
steve8714
May 15, 2016 at 8:38 PM
Whites would be noticed by everyone in the neighborhood and witnesses would be everywhere. No witnesses because “snitches get stitches”.
A human being
February 28, 2016 at 4:50 PM
Look nobody knows a thing about it yet, it could have been a robbery gone wrong, it could have been drug related, it could have been a hate crime. However it’s important not to jump to conclusions and argue when we dont know any of the facts. Stories like this build up racial tensions and that’s exactly what the media wants, the more racial tension, the easier it is for the corporate controlled media outlets to manipulate america into going to war with itself, divide an conquer. Trying times like these we need to stand together as one against our oppressors- wether asian, white, black, arabic, Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Buddhist we need to stand together, before we tear each other apart.
Jonaid
February 29, 2016 at 2:13 PM
I agree with human being…makes sense I’m a human being too ;).
Peace.
Mr Freeze
February 28, 2016 at 6:30 PM
Indiana is the birthplace of the KKK.
virginia
February 28, 2016 at 7:04 PM
Unfortunately the media is following ‘mass killings’ that involve 4 or more. Slayings in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit…i could go on alphabetically…like this, are not covered. It isn’t a fact that ‘no one cares’ – lots of people care, a lot. But nothing is being done at the legal level to change the playing field. America is broken at present, and there is an election going on. The best any one can do is make some good choices and go VOTE. Don’t give up or believe that one person, one life, and one vote doesn’t matter. It ALL Matters! Peace, namaste, and blessings.
AARP
February 29, 2016 at 12:36 PM
It’s just so sad that this generation of young people find more dangerous ways of entertainment. The main point
Is that 3 lives are gone and will affect many more than 3 people. The mothers, fathers, sisters , brothers, aunts and uncles and ….
the girl with the truth
February 29, 2016 at 8:23 PM
There is a lot of denial with the “racialized minority” especially blacks and Muslims. Before you go throwing your tongues at me, I am black. I weep for our youths, I weep for racism. However something is wrong it needs fixing, and the police ain’t gonna fix it, the BLM movement is a pretext to the problem at hand. Many young black kids are involved in behaviors that are dangerous and it is only a matter of time before either their own friends kill them or the police. in the past months, all the killings by the police have been very questionable, whereas, black on black crime is rocket high, not to mention black on other races. We cannot cry for racism if we do things that lead to the stereotypes, we cannot say we are being executed if we are not law abiding citizens. we have to fix our houses before we ask someone else to fix their house to accommodate us. and if we accept the problem at hand we can change the future for many young black kids currently being told the police hate you because you are black! it is a fallacy to ask the police to change if we cannot fix our own broken children first. many people are on denial and when something like this happens, race and religion is blamed. Islam has promoted jihadi violence for years but no one will change the Quran to fit with the kind of beliefs Muslims wants people to learn about them. so whose false is it? lets stop playing blame and start turning “the gaze” into our own selves and fix this problem of wasted lives once and for all.
Aly Balagamwala
March 1, 2016 at 7:57 AM
Dear “the girl with the truth”
Since you are Muslim, you would know that changing the Quran is not possible for Muslims. It is the Word of Allah and we can not edit and choose at will.
Best Regards
Aly
*Comment above is posted in a personal capacity and may not reflect the official views of MuslimMatters or its staff*
sabrina
March 1, 2016 at 2:12 AM
salam aleykum. About the victims of Chapell Hill, there were a lot of stuffs behind the #ourthreewinners: charity, a website was created, Deah was trying to raise money to help Syrian refugee in Turkey for dental care,… I hope we will know what happened for those 3 Muslim boys, in shaa ALLAH.
Wow!
March 1, 2016 at 3:57 AM
Islamaphobia bandwagon? Hard to believe that would exist, when a leading candidate for President calls for a ban on Muslims entering this country…or when young people of color are categorically tagged as drug users. Perhaps I am misinformed, but aren’t practicing Muslims forbidden from using drugs and/or alcohol?
Pingback: Three Black Americans Were Executed and America Has Never Been Calmer - Democratsnewz
John
March 4, 2016 at 1:14 PM
Unfortunatly when dead folks are tagged as dead Mulism, dead Christian, dead Budist, etc, the adjective undermine the underlying issue:
People were killed and that’s unnaceptable..