#MuslimLivesMatter: Muslims Pray in DC for North Carolina Victims

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — About 100 American Muslims braved freezing temperatures to hold a prayer service in front of the White House on Friday to commemorate the victims and to denounce what they see as anti-Arab sentiment in the United States.

“Let this Friday be a space for Muslims to find each other, to hold each other, to support each other,” said Mahroh Jahangiri, one of the service’s organizers. “Let it be a space for us to perform our faith publicly without the fear of violence against us, without fear of being victims of a war that’s being fought against brown and black bodies in this country that is not recognized.”

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, on Tuesday evening gunned down Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and Hicks turned himself in to the police, according to the Chapel Hill Police Department.

The Muslims who gathered in front of the White House on Friday said they turned out to mourn the victims and show fellow Americans that they do not need to be afraid of Muslims.

“I think it’s a good way to pay tribute to the victims, but also show that as Muslims, we’re part of the community, and that we pray just like Christians, Jews, and everyone else. The hashtag that’s going around is all lives matter, and I think that’s true,” said Salman Haji, 23, told Sputnik.

Worshipers also criticized the US media’s alleged biased coverage of the killings, saying that acts of violence perpetrated by Muslims are quickly described as terrorism, but many media outlets portrayed the North Carolina killings as a neighborhood dispute over parking spaces.

“If it was a Muslim suspect, they would automatically say he was a terrorist,” Haji said. “They would not jump to the conclusion that he’s mentally unavailable, as lone wolf attacks by whites are sometimes portrayed.”

Public hostility toward Islam and recent police killings of black men have left some people of color concerned for their safety.

“It’s a hate crime. And we should focus on this more in order to be able to find a way to address this issue,” Mohammed Elgahari, an Egyptian-American man who joined the White House prayer, told Sputnik. “It’s not only about Muslims. Many black men have been killed recently because of police brutality. I think a lot of minorities are suffering the same as well.”

The White House drew criticism for initially declining to comment on the killings, which many Muslim Americans regard as a hate crime. President Barack Obama broke his silence with a statement Friday afternoon.

Local police and the FBI are continuing their investigations into the killings. Police have said early indications suggested the killings stemmed from a parking dispute.